Small Steps
by Tara1993
Summary: What would have happened if Alice and Hatter had actually established a relationship during the miniseries. My version of what might have happened, and what would have changed. Please read and review, thank you!
1. Chapter 1

**So I am not compleatly happy with how this one turned out but I'll let you all decide if you like it or not, enjoy!!**

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Alice had been lying in the old bed for what she assumed was about an hour now. Charlie was snoring off in the distance, muttering that strange song he always sang, and Hatter lay a few feet away, resting on the gate that led into the barn. She'd been struggling with weather to leave or not. She wanted to go help Jack and she knew that Hatter wouldn't take her. He kept telling her how dangerous the casino was, but she wasn't going to just leave Jack. She'd go on her own if she had to, and that's what she decided to do. So in the dark, chilly night she slowly stood up and made her way from the bed. She stopped to glance at Hatter, he'd be mad when he realized she'd left without him. He had this need to protect her that she didn't understand; she could take care of herself. She sighed and wrapped his purple velvet coat tighter around herself. She'd only walked a few more paces before she stepped on a dead branch that'd fallen on the ground. It snapped loudly and she froze knowing Hatter was bound to hear it.

She heard a faint rustling behind her and she thought quickly, she could just try and make a break for it now, but Hatter was fast and he'd probably catch her, then she'd be in more trouble than she would be if she just let him find her. So instead she stood still and waited for his voice.

"Alice?" He asked, his voice was deeper with sleep and she wasn't sure why that made her heart beat a bit faster.

She hung her head and slowly turned around to face him. He was standing behind the gate, hat in his hand.

"What are you doing?" He questioned. She didn't answer for a second, then she sighed and just admitted the truth.

"I was leaving." She said quietly. Hatter sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Why?" He asked, and the hurt in his voice made her feel terribly guilty for trying. She didn't know what to say though, it was a long story. She sighed and gestured with her hands, trying to come up with an answer.

"Come here." Hatter said sitting back down on the ground. Alice sighed again and glanced back over her shoulder to the dense forest then looked at Hatter who was waiting for her to join him. She slowly made her way over to him and sat down next to him, a small bit of space between them that neither wanted there but they weren't willing to admit that.

"Why were you leaving?" He asked again, Alice looked down at her hands.  
"I need to go find Jack, Hatter, and if you aren't willing to take me I'll find a way there on my own." She'd put it blunt and she hoped he wasn't to upset with her. He was quiet for a while.

"I am sorry." She whispered.

"Alice, you don't understand how dangerous this is, the Queen get's a sick kind of joy out of chopping people's heads off, if she doesn't like what you have to say, you don't get another choice, your done." He said, just as blunt as she was. She glanced over at him tentatively.

"I don't," He sighed. "I don't want you to get hurt." He said truthfully.

"I can take care of myself." She said.

"In your world Alice, yes, I believe you take great care of yourself, but here, you could die any minute, I don't wanna be responsible for that." He said, he was getting frustrated but she was too.

"You don't have to be responsible for it, that's why I was leaving." She snipped.

"You think you can just go wander through the forest and find a way to the Casino? You don't even know where you're going?" He threw back.

"I'd find it eventually." She said stubbornly.

"If you don't get eaten first, remember the nasty beastie that chased you earlier, I don't quiet think he's just forgotten."

"Well, I'd find a way, climb a tree, remember?" She said, using what he'd told her to do originally when he was working the 'trap' through in his head.

"Why, are you so hell bent on doing this by yourself, just let me help you!" He said, a little louder than he wanted to and both froze waiting for Charlie to call out but he never did.

Alice stared at him trying to figure out an answer to his question.

"Because I am afraid." She said quickly.

"Afraid of what?"

"You."

She regretted it the second she'd said it. Hatter looked like she'd just punched him.

"Why?" He asked quietly. This one she couldn't answer.

"I don't know." She said honestly.

"You don't trust me, that's it right?" He said.

"No Hatter, I mean. I did just meet you, so I mean I can't trust you with my life or anything." This hurt him even more.

"But that's not what it is." She finished.

"Then what?" He asked again.

"I told you I don't know." She was struggling with this he could tell.

"Is there something I should do? I don't want you to be frightened of me Alice." He said, and he meant it too, he wanted Alice to trust him, to be comfortable with him.

Alice thought for a while and then noticed his hand resting on his crossed legs. She reached out slowly but then pulled back, thinking better of it. He caught the movement though and held his hand out to her. She looked at it, she didn't know why she was having so much trouble with this, she'd held his hand before when he helped her along the ledge back in the city, but something was different now. She let herself reach out and place her hand in his. He wrapped his fingers around hers and placed his other hand on top of hers.

"Not so bad eh?" He asked with a dimpled smile. She glanced up and nodded. Hatter began to understand what she was afraid of. Not of him exactly, but about how she felt about him. Hatter liked her, he was never one to shy away from feelings so he was pretty sure Alice knew how he felt about her. He figured what she was frightened of, was her own feelings.

"Here." He said turning his back and resting against the gate and pulling her next to him. She kept her hand in his and let him pull her in close. He wrapped his free hand around her waist and she warily leaned into his embrace, resting her head just under his. She moved the hand she was holding so she could look at it, spinning it around, and taking in the surprising softness of it. She figured that with the years of work she figured Hatter had done he'd have ruff, worn hands but she liked the softness of his skin against her own.

"Just a hand, love." He said with a bit of a laugh.

"I know." Alice said, laying her head back against his chest.

They were quiet for a while. Alice listened to the sound of Hatter's breathing, calming her.

"What are you really afraid of Alice?" Hatter asked again. Alice sighed, but still held onto his hand.

"Just tell me the truth, I won't judge you." He said, taking his hand out of hers and cupping her face, tilting it up to look at him.

"I feel something for you Hatter, and it scares me." She said, letting it out.

"Why does it scare you?" He asked, letting his thumb stroke her face gently. She sighed and closed her eyes, subconsciously leaning into his hand.

"Because, I don't know what to do about it." She said leaning in closer and resting her hand on his chest.  
He watched her face get closer, her eyes closed. He smiled to himself.

"What do you wanna do about it now?" He asked,

"Right now Alice." He clarified. She opened her eyes, staring into his deep brown ones. He saw it register in her eyes and she nodded once so he moved to close the short distance between them, gently pushing his lips against hers. She responded first, which surprised him, but she was so overwhelmed by the whole thing that her mind went a bit fuzzy. His lips were warm and smooth and she loved the way they felt against her own. She felt his hand move down behind her neck. He pulled her closer, deepening the kiss and Alice let out a deep involuntary moan, simply because of the amount of passion Hatter was putting into this. He wanted her to trust him so much.

He moved away slowly, letting them both breath, short gasps as they stared into each other's eyes.

"Is that okay?" Hatter asked. Alice was taken aback for a second. She'd never known any man to ask permission, making sure things were okay before they moved on. She nodded.

"Yeah." Was all she said and he pushed his lips gently against hers again.

It was a long night, both sitting together, taking each other in. Alice didn't let it get further than kissing and Hatter was okay with that, he understood. They fell asleep in each other's arms but Alice woke up first the next day, early in the morning, the sun just barely rising over the hills.

She glanced around, realizing that she was still in Hatter's arms sent shock and fright through her. Last night came back in full and Alice suddenly felt very scared, Jack came to mind first, what would he think? She got scared; she scrambled out of Hatters arms, thoughts flying through her mind,

This couldn't be happening

Why did she let this happen?

What would she do now?

She had to leave. She glanced around and caught sight of Hatter, still asleep where she left him. Her heart warmed and frustration flooded her, she sighed and angrily kicked a rock. It hit a ladder a few feet from her; she glanced up after hearing the noise. This was it. She walked over to the ladder and shrugged his jacket off then hung it on one of the rungs. She moved quickly to the edge of the forest and took one look back; she could barely see Hatter from where she stood. She knew this would turn out bad, especially after last night; she didn't want him to think she was leading him on but in reality she didn't know what she was feeling or what was going on.

She hoped Hatter would understand she had to take whatever this was in small steps.

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**So this one was just gonna be a oneshot but I've got some ideas for it and if it get's enough love I might just turn it into a little chapter fic. Please let me know what you all think, thank you!!!**

**~Tara~**


	2. Chapter 2

**So I got some good reviews for this first chapter and I had a bunch of ideas floating around in my head for a continuation, so I decided to continue. Please enjoy the next chapter!**

If Alice had thought her meeting with the Queen was bad enough she was terribly wrong. At present she was dangling over a pit hanging for dear life onto a single board. Along with not helping her fear of heights any she was also pretty pissed. She carefully swung her legs up over the board, using her arms to help pull her up. Once she was sitting on the board she felt a little better but she was still angry and now she had bruises on her arms that she could slowly feel forming.

"Ah, she's back up." One of the strange twins said.

"If you kill me the Queen won't get her ring." Alice pointed out. That was what pissed her off the most, they wanted this ring so bad and now they wanted to kill her.

"So tell us where it is." The other twin said.

"Not until you get me out of here." Alice said, trying to stay calm. She hoped beyond all hope they would just let her go.

Hatter and Charlie had been riding all day trying to get to the Casino. They had arrived there a bit before noon according to Charlie. They let the horses out in the woods in case they needed a quick get-away, Charlie had said that eventually they would just turn back and make their way to the fortress so they needn't worry about coming back to retrieve them. Hatter found a back door that looked a bit like a service entrance; he pounded on the door a plan quickly forming in his head. A suit opened the door and eyed him cautiously.

"Hi." He said, giving the suit a happy smile.

"Who the hell are you?" The suit asked.

"Were the new act." Hatter said proudly.

"What?"

Sadly that was where Hatters plan ended. He had to think quickly to come up with an answer.

"Robinson and Duckworth." He said, not knowing where the names came from but not caring too much.  
"He's Robinson." Hatter said pointing to Charlie behind him.  
"I am Duckworth, were guardians to the mesmeric portals of the cosmos." He said, using big words to distract the suit, who gave him a confused look.  
"Stage hypnotists." Hatter clarified.

"This is good fun." Charlie whispered behind him. Hatter turned slowly to glare at Charlie; this wouldn't work if he gave it away. Hatter turned back to the suit with a smile and a laugh.  
"He means the act." Hatter said taking his hat off his head and spinning it around a bit.

"It's good fun, when we do it." He added tossing his hat into the air and then staring at the suit. He felt it land straight on his head a few seconds later and he reached up to tilt it a bit. Apparently that was enough to convince the suit because he turned around and asked if they had clearance. Hatter stretched out his right hand then curled it into a fist and with a curt whistle and a smile he knocked the suit out cold. Stepping over him, he and Charlie made their way into the casino and quickly up the flights of stairs to the main floor. He needed to find Alice, he understood why she left, she still wasn't sure about her feelings and she needed to find Jack. He was frustrated with her, not exactly mad, but he knew he missed her, there was a horrible ache in his chest whenever he thought about her and how she wasn't there, he needed her back.

Alice could not believe this, it'd only gotten worse, now there wasn't even a board for her to hang onto, it was pretty much gone and she was resting on a desk writing a 'map' of where the ring was. She wouldn't give it away no matter what, she knew better but she could pretend.

Suddenly she head the doors slide open in front of her and she looked up to see Hatter almost fall into the hole in front of him. Her heart warmed significantly and she didn't try to push it away this time.

"Hatter." She called, more than happy to see him. He glanced at her, taking in everything then looked in her eyes.

"Jump." He said. Her stomach dropped. Jump? Over giant pit? She sighed and moved to stand on top of the desk. She looked down into the pit and then back up into Hatters eyes. He had his arms open in waiting and he nodded to her, telling her that he'd catch her. She took a risk, jumped to hang onto the light fixture that hung from the ceiling and swung across the pit and into Hatters waiting arms. He pulled her into the room on the other side, keeping her safe in his arms. She was shaking, her fear being pushed too far and he knew he shouldn't have but as far as he saw it, it was the only way to get her across.

"How did you guys get in here?" She asked looking up at him. Hatter shook his head.  
"I don't know ask Charlie." He said. The knight in question was currently pressing on walls trying to find a way out. Hatter pulled Alice in close again, hugging her tightly and taking her face in his hands forcing her to look at him.

"I am sorry I made you jump, are you okay?" He asked. She nodded quickly burying her head in his neck, wrapping her arms tightly around him and taking in his warm scent.

"I am just glad you're here." She mumbled against his skin.  
She heard movement behind her and they looked to see that Charlie had found a way out. Hatter let her move in front of him, keeping his hand on the small of her back as he guided her out the door. She let Hatter move in front of her and she followed him down a flight of stairs and into a wide open waiting room. It wasn't until they got in there that they realized Suits were following them, they'd gotten halfway into the room before another group of Suits caught sight of them, turning them the other way. Charlie got in front running for an elevator and Hatter and Alice joined him. The doors shut just in time and Hatter pressed the up button instantly.

"Up, why up?" she asked. Hatter sighed

"Do we have another choice?" He asked. Charlie started mumbling behind them, distracting Hatter from thinking. As much as he hated to he needed to ask.

"Did you give up the ring Alice?"

"I had things under control." She replied quickly.

"You tried to cut a deal with the Queen didn't you?" He asked.

" I was getting close."

"Getting close! Mayce I am wrong but negotiations didn't appear to be going so well."

"Well I need more time." Alice said, she was starting to get a bit frustrated.

"More time for what? You think the Queens just gonna send you and your boyfriend home?"

"No." Alice said.

"Of course not." Hatter agreed.

"Cuse he's her son." Alice said. Hatter stopped and stared at her.

"The Prince, Jack Heart?" Hatter questioned. Alice frowned, wanting to shrink up against a wall at how ridiculous this all was.

"Jack Heart is your boyfriend!" Hatter said, surprise and disbelief filling his voice. She wanted to tell him that Jack definitely wasn't her boyfriend anymore but the elevator doors opened and she didn't have time. They moved out onto the roof and instantly two suits ambushed them. Hatter went in swinging, moving one suit as far away from Alice as he could get. Charlie stepped in front of Alice, trying to handle the suit himself but Alice ended up taking the man down as he was much too fast for Charlie. Hatter joined them quickly, after he was sure that the suit he was taking care of was down. He walked up to the two, fixing his hat and wiping a bit of blood from his lip. Alice glanced up at him and felt her heart start to beat faster, she realized how stupid it sounded in her head so she made a mental note to never say it out loud but he looked terribly sexy when he was flustered, his hair at even weirder angles and a very fine layer of sweat on his neck and the bit of his chest that she could see. She shook her head and put the thoughts out of her mind.

"What now?" She asked. Hatter glanced around.

"We get on one of those." He said, moving to the edge of the roof and three bright pink flamingos.

"These things fly?" She asked.

"We don't have time to think Alice, just get on." He said, taking a seat on the back of one of the metal contraptions. Alice moved to the very edge of the roof and carefully looked down, seeing how far up they were.

"I am not getting on that." She said, stepping back.

"We don't have another choice." Hatter told her.

"No, you don't understand, I am not getting on that." Alice persisted.

"It's perfectly safe, safe-ish." Hatter said, glancing in front of him.

"No, look I have a thing about flying." Alice said. She wanted to continue but she heard shooting behind her and turned to look.

"Yeah, I have a thing about bullets." Hatter said. Alice was glancing around wildly trying to think of any other way out of this.

"Look at me." Hatter said taking her arm.

"I'll do the flying all you have to do is hold on." Hatter told her. She glanced away and he squeezed her hand, trying to reassure her.

"I wouldn't let you do it if I didn't think you'd be okay." He said. Alice glanced in his eyes; she could see he meant it.

"Okay." She said, moving to sit behind him.

"How do you get it to fly?" She could hear Charlie question. She wasn't sure what he did but in a second he was off, flying at unreasonable speed.

"That's fast." Alice said, worry filling her voice.

"Yeah, hold on." Hatter said pressing the button on the front of the flamingo quickly, taking off.

She gripped Hatters waist so tightly she was sure she'd leave imprints on his skin. She tried not to look around too much, keeping her eyes focused on Hatter in front of her.

"I suppose it's his lofty airs and graces then?" Hatter asked. Alice was at a loss as to why he thought now was a good time for small talk.  
"He doesn't have airs and graces." She said quickly.

"Really, well what then?" Hatter questioned. Alice sighed, she couldn't talk now, she just couldn't.

"Look, just shut up and drive." She said. Hatter turned his head to look at her, losing control of the flamingo for a second. Alice screamed into his back as he straightened the machine out.

"Sorry, sorry." He said, turning his attention back to flying. Alice lifted her head slightly, enough that she could see over his shoulder. She tried to calm herself, taking deep breaths, letting Hatter's scent fill her. Deep spice, and warm leather, and something she could only describe as Hatter, because it was something she never thought she'd ever smelled before but it was perfect. She looked up at his face, set into hard lines, his jaw clenched in concentration, deep brown eyes burning. Her heart warmed again, but instead of scaring her this time it calmed her and she let it happen, closing her eyes and just picturing herself safe in his arms.

She was okay with this, her breathing steadied and she calmed. Till she heard the gunshots behind them. Both she and Hatter turned, looking for what was going on.

"Aces." Hatter told her. She wrapped herself tighter around him, fearing for her life even more now. Charlie was hit first, crashing into the lake below. Then she felt their own flamingo shutter. She knew they'd been hit.

"Alice, hold on." Hatter called to her. She didn't think she could hold any tighter than she already was but she tried. Then the flamingo jolted again and she knew they were going down. She closed her eyes tightly and waited till she felt herself hit the water.

She tried to hold onto Hatter but the suction of the heavy metal sinking pulled her down to quick and she lost her grip on him. She opened her eyes and looked around but the lakebed was dark and she couldn't see much. She was disoriented and she swam to what she thought was the surface but she wasn't getting anywhere. Panic set in and she could feel herself losing her breath, she wasn't going to be able to stay under much longer. She tried to force herself up as fast as she could and she made it just in time, taking huge gasps of air, but she couldn't get footing on anything and she was trying so hard to breath that she forgot to swim and she sank back under quickly taking in a bit of water in the process. She closed her eyes and tried to push up by she was to week and it wasn't working. She was grateful for the hand she felt close around her wrist and pull her to the surface. She gasped in air quickly and opened her eyes to find Hatter pulling her in close.

"I got you Alice it's okay, just breath, it's okay." He said, helping her stay above water. They stayed like that until Alice could breathe normal again.

"You okay?" He asked when she was swimming normally again. She could only nod and manage a week yes.

"We should get to shore." He said, "Can you make it?" She nodded again and they both started for the beach.

**Thank you very much for reading, I am hoping to have the next chapter up by the end of the week! Please send my story some love by reviewing, I am a lot more motivated to write when I know my story is being enjoyed. Thanks again!**

**~Tara~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright so this chapter is a little shorter. It was a little difficult for me I am not gonna lie, I struggled a bit with if I should change the scene on the beach or not, there's so many different ways it could have gone it was hard to decide if I should keep it the same or not, in the end I did decide to keep it the same but I did switch up what happened after. Like I said it was a hard choice but I think the scene on the beach was such a pivital moment to begin with that it would be wrong to change it around. So please go ahead and read and let me know what you think!**

Alice was completely exhausted by the time they reached shore. She walked onto the stony beach with heavy footfalls, upset at herself for letting this happen in the first place. They didn't see any sign of Charlie so they started calling his name.

"If he's made it there should be tracks." Hatter informed her

"Charlie!" She called again.

"Alice, where's the ring?" Hatter asked, he knew this wasn't the time but he needed to know that they at least had one bargaining chip left.

"Safe." She said, not even stopping to look back at him.

"You're not gonna tell me, after I just, I risked my neck getting you out of there." He said, a bit angry that she was being so ridiculous about all this.

"Why did you risk your neck?" She questioned, turning around to face him.

"Unbelievable." He said, shaking his head. "Why are you being so ungrateful?" He snipped. He knew this whole conversation was going to end badly but he needed to know where the ring was and if they got pissed at each other in the process then so be it.

"Look I don't blame you, your people need you and the ring may make all the difference." She said turning back around and starting down the beach again.

"Is that why you think I did this, so I could get my hands on the ring?" He asked, a bit hurt at her accusation.

"I respect that, I mean it shows you're a man of integrity after all but first I need to use it to get my father out." She said.

"Your father?" Hatter asked.

"He's here." Alice said, turning to face him. Hatter gave her a questioning look.  
"I don't understand."

"Jack slipped me his watch." She pulled a thick silver watch from the pocket of her dress and flipped it over in her hands.

"R.H. Robert Hamilton. I remember this watch. Look it's stuck on the exact date and time that he disappeared look, March 23rd. I mean he's in the casino somewhere." She told him, looking up with hopeful eyes. He hated to crush her dream but he didn't trust Jack at all.

"He's lying." He told her. Her eyes darkened and she turned away from him.

"Jack took a big risk passing this to me."

"And you believe him?" He asked.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because he's lied to you about everything!" He shouted.

"Well he had his reasons."  
"I am stunned, why are you even defending him?" He asked, completely enamored at the level of trust Alice had for this man when he lied to her face.

"Because he's trying to help me."

"Well let's just think about that." Hatter said grabbing her arm and pulling her to face him.

"He gave you the ring, why, it made you a target Alice."  
"Well he wasn't expecting me to follow him; I screwed up bringing the ring here."

"And he blames you for that?"  
"No, not exactly." She said, a bit of doubt in her voice.

"Why is he even going around pretending to be someone else anyway?" Hatter asked, Alice turned her back on him, continuing to walk on.

"Well he's hiding from them." She said.

"Who?" He asked,

"I don't know!" She shouted at him. Hatter shut up, he'd pushed her way too far, he should have just stopped.

"He's engaged, to a Duchess." She admitted and he swore he saw tears in her eyes.

"So he's two-timing you?" He stated. Alice sighed.

"I don't think it's like that."

"And now after all this time, he's telling you that your father is in the casino, does that not seem a bit fishy?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"It's not a coincidence Alice." He said taking a step towards her. She looked like she was going to say something else but loud singing interrupted them.

"Did you hear that?" She asked. Hatter laughed.

"I don't believe it."

They turned and followed the voice, coming upon Charlie in front of a fire.

"Charlie!" Alice called happily. The old knight turned and welcomed her with open arms.

"Thank heavens I was just about to go back in the water and look for you." He said

"How'd you get ashore with all that armor on?" Hatter asked.

"I am a knight." Charlie said simply. Hatter rolled his eyes and took quick control of the situation.

"We should get off this beach before were spotted."

"No." Alice said. Hatter sighed and turned to face her.

"No?"

"Look I am really grateful for what you guys did, getting me out of the casino but I have to go back." She said.

"Why, are you so hooked on Jack?" Hatter asked. He'd never even met the guy before but he wanted to punch him.

"I told you he was trying to help me." Alice argued.

"Really, cause it sounds to me like he's using you."

"And you're not?" Alice shot back. It hurt but Hatter let that one slide.

"Don't you care about what's happening here, all the people's lives that are getting ripped apart by the Queen?"

"Of course I do I am one of them." Alice told him

"Then give the resistance a chance."  
" I met those guys already." Alice said.

"One arm of the organization that was. If we get to the top man he'll help us." Hatter told her, trying anything to persuade her.

"You know him?"

"Yes. No, not exactly. But he goes by a code name, Caterpillar. Give me a few hours, I'll slip back into the city and I'll make contact. You can, stay in the fortress with Charlie you'll be safe there. If I am not back by nightfall, do it your way." He said. Alice nodded.

"Alright." Hatter smiled and nodded.

"We still need to get off the beach though, Charlie you think you can find the fortress from here?" Hatter asked.

"Of course I can." He said standing and gathering his things.

They set out a few minutes after, with Charlie leading the way. It didn't take them to long to reach the campground and once they made it to familiar ground Alice started to hang back, Hatter slowed down to catch up with her, staying close.  
"I am sorry I yelled at you." She said, glancing up at him. He shrugged.

"I am also sorry I said you were using me, you're not." She added.

"I don't want you to think I am though." He said. Alice sighed as she entered the camp. She walked over to her makeshift bed and sat down, Hatter followed.

"I really don't know what to think anymore Hatter. I mean I feel like Jack really is trying to do something good but your right he lied to me and I shouldn't trust him." She said honestly. Hatter sat down next to her and took her hands in his.

"I don't want to push you into believing something. It's true I don't care too much for this Jack fellow but if you trust him then that's your decision, not mine." He said. Alice nodded.

"So you're not mad at me?" She asked. He shook his head.

"I was a little bit, let's say, flustered with you, how's that?" He said. She smiled and laughed which in turn made him smile. He moved in closer to her and took her face in his hands.

"I understand why you left Alice, and if you need more time just tell me, I told you I wasn't going to push you into anything, that's not what I want." He said. She closed her eyes and nodded. Hatter heard Charlie move away from the camp, probably to collect wood for the night, he took the opportunity though and leaned in close to Alice. She sighed and rested her head against his, calm completely taking over her. She opened her eyes when she felt his breath against her lips and smiled as she took in his deep brown eyes. She moved in a bit and let him lead the rest of the way, pushing his lips to her own softly. She sighed, contentment filled her, and she let it overpower the rest of her feelings. She was realizing slowly that this strange thing she had with Hatter was the most wonderful thing she'd ever felt before.

"You should get going." Alice said, leaning back to breath.

"I don't want you walking around that city in the dark."

"I'll be fine." He said giving her a smile. She sighed and reached up, cupping his face in her hand.

"Promise me you'll be okay." She said looking deep into his eyes. He smiled and turned his head to kiss her palm.

"I promise." He said, seriousness flooding his voice. She nodded and let him kiss her again, sweet and warm and with enough force that she whimpered at the thought of him leaving. He pulled back letting her breath and glancing around.

"I really should get going." He said. Alice closed her eyes and nodded feeling a tear drop.

"I'll be back as soon as I can Alice." He said wiping the tear away and kissing her cheek. She nodded and he whispered a 'see you soon' in her ear and then he was gone. She wanted to follow after, to go with him but she knew the city was too dangerous for her and he'd never let her go. So instead she walked over to the ladder where the jacket that he gave her hung. She picked it up and carried it back to the bed with her, breathing in what little of Hatters scent still lingered on it and letting a few more tears fall.

**Okay so thank you for reading, like I said this was a hard one but I think it turned out pretty well. Please review and let me know what you thought. Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay so this is where we divert a little bit from the origional story line. I kept the same concept but the point of this story was a 'what if' Hatter and Alice developed a relationship eairler in the mini series and that's the direction we head in this chapter. The plot is still in the same order as the mini series and will continue that way but the diolouge is going to get a little different because of the changes I made ot the story line so I hope you like it!**

She wasn't sure how long she was sitting there, letting tears fall into Hatters, soft jacket. She was crying for many reasons, the first, how much she missed Hatter, the second, how scared she was about how much she missed Hatter. Commitment scared her, she'd be the first to admit it, and she'd never felt this strongly about any man before in her life. But something about Hatter was different; there was something about him that let her know she could trust him. She wanted to be with him forever, and that was something new too. She missed him. She tried to calm herself, taking another deep breath, letting Hatters scent linger. Charlie had walked back into the camp, laying down a pile of sticks and sitting on a tree stump. Alice got up and slipped Hatters coat on then walked over to join Charlie where he sat.

"Need some help?" Alice asked, picking up a few sticks, Charlie smiled and nodded.

"Sure." He said. She sat down and started breaking up sticks and throwing them in the pot for tonight's supper.

"So your harbinger left then?" he questioned. She froze for a minute then continued.

"Yeah, probably about a half hour ago." She said. Charlie continued to look at her.

"I know you're worried about him but I am sure he'll be fine and be back here aggravating you sooner than you think." He said with a laugh. Alice forced a giggle.

"Yeah, your right." She said, trying to ignore the subject.

"Alice, not to impose but I know you care about him, have you told him how you feel?" He asked. Alice sighed, she didn't want to get into this with Charlie but he'd asked.

"No, not really." She said.

"Why?" He questioned.

"I haven't had a lot of good luck with men in the past, I just, want to know that I can trust him first."

"You haven't realized that yet? Alice if I may, I think that with everything Hatter's done for you it would be ridiculous for you not to trust him." He said. Alice didn't answer, she'd been thinking about telling Hatter, just opening up and letting him know, but she was worried about trusting him. However Charlie had just thrown everything into a pretty harsh perspective. Hatter had saved her, on multiple occasions, why shouldn't she trust him, that was the question.

She sat with Charlie for a while longer, talking and having fun but eventually Alice told Charlie she needed a little time alone, he told her which path to take to get to a hill with a beautiful view of the kingdom and she thanked him and started off.

It didn't take her long to find the hill Charlie was talking about and he was right, it was a beautiful view.

She wrapped Hatters coat tighter around her and thought for a while. What would she say to him? She wanted to let him know how she felt, to tell him everything but she was scared to. She loved Hatter, she knew that now, it was obvious, but these feelings were something totally new to her and she didn't know how to express them, didn't know how or even if she could.

She stood on the hill for a while, contemplating what to say, how to say it. She didn't notice him walk up behind her until he was only a few feet away, she turned around to see him smiling at her, a bit out of breath but still in one peace which set her mind at ease.

"Its good news, the resistance wants to help, their sending an agent who'll take us to see Caterpillar." He said.

"That's quite a, uh, steep hill." He added, taking a few deep breaths. He looked at her for a second, really took her in.

"You okay?" he asked. She let herself think for a second.  
"I was starting to think you weren't coming back." She admitted. He gave her a pained expression but then smiled.

"You still don't trust me?" He asked, She sighed and smiled, not entirely ready to answer that question fully yet.

"How soon till he gets here?" She asked.

"Those guys can move pretty fast when they need to." Hatter told her, he took in the landscape around him and she saw his eyes light up.

"You're gonna join them aren't you, fight alongside them?" She asked, seeing the realization in his eyes.

"I have to try, as dodo said I've lived my life playing both sides of the court, I made the Hearts think I was working for them while I fed their enemies, those days are over." He told her, she knew he was telling the truth too, she could see it in his eyes. He sighed and turned back to her.  
"We should get back to camp though, yeah?" he said, starting to turn away.

"No, Hatter wait." She said, taking his hand in hers and pulling him back to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked. This was it, she'd taken the plunge now, she'd have to tell him something.

"I um, Hatter I wanted to tell you." She was drowning; she had no clue how to do this.

"Tell me what?" He asked calmly, taking her other hand in his.

"I uh, okay." She whispered to herself she closed her eyes and took a breath.

"I know you know how hard this is for me but I need to say it because it's what I feel and I don't want to go forever wondering what would have happened had I not told you so I am just gonna say it now okay?" She said in one whole breath. He smiled questioningly at her, but motioned for her to go on. She took another breath and looked straight into his eyes.

"I love you Hatter."

He was quiet for a few seconds, which felt like hours to Alice, but after a little while she saw a smile start to creep onto his face which eventually bloomed into his full dimpled grin. He wrapped her up in his arms and spun her around, holding her so close she didn't think she could breathe. When he let her go he looked deep into her eyes and cupped her face in his hand, smiling all the while.

"I love you too Alice, I really do, and I do know how hard it is for you to say but I am so glad you did." He said. She didn't think his smile could get any bigger, and she smiled back at him, happy that he felt the same way. He took a quick breath and pulled her in close, pushing his lips against hers sweetly. She sighed and let herself relax, finally feeling free to just be herself around Hatter, to let go of all the insecurities she had before and just let things happen.

Hatter wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her in closer, letting his other hand run down her side. She moved her own arms to wrap around his neck and she let her fingers tangle in the hair at the base of his neck. He moaned and she pushed her lips against his harder. He pushed her down slowly and surprisingly they both made it to the ground in rather graceful movements. He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her even more fiercely than before. She sighed and let him do what he wanted. He ran his lips down her neck, leaving a hot trail in their wake that she wanted more of. He shrugged his jacket off her shoulders so he could taste the skin of her shoulder and collar bone. She sighed again and he moved to look her in the eye. He smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"I love you Alice." He said. She smiled widely and kissed him back.

"I love you Hatter." She answered, feeling her heart swell with joy at the fact that she could say that freely now, she didn't have to be scared of it anymore. And in some way they belonged to each other now, she knew Hatter would never let her go and she felt the same way.

He moved back in to kiss her again, slowly pushing her down onto the grass underneath him. She let herself relax again, completely content with letting him have his way, she would get to have hers later, she'd make sure of it. For now she just lingered in the feeling that filled her. She had finally opened her heart to Hatter, and she was very happy she did.

They spent a few good hours sitting up on the hill. He let her rest against his shoulder as they stared out at the beauty in front of them. Alice had to admit that if she wasn't being chased around by such horrible people Wonderland would be a beautiful place to be, at least this part of it. The Knights Kingdom was so expanse and beautiful, and Alice had been here a while so she couldn't help but feel a little at home here.

A while later, when the sun started to set and darkness was beginning to set in, Hatter decided it was time to get back to camp.

"My lady." He said standing and offering his hand. She smiled and let him help her to her feet. She laughed and fell into his embrace easily; he leaned in and let his lips linger against hers for a few seconds.

"I love you, my Alice." He whispered. She smiled against his lips, thrilled to be called his.

"I love you too Hatter, so much." She said, now completely comfortable with the ease it took for her to admit.

He kissed her, sweetly and lovingly, and she also knew she could get used to this.

"We really should get back though, as much as I'd rather stay up here with you forever." He said, wrapping his arms snuggly around her waist and pulling her in closer. She sighed.

"Believe me, I'd like to too but your right we should get back, I don't wanna be walking through this forest in the dark." She said.

"I'd take care of you." Hatter whispered in her ear, sending a few shivers down her spine.

"I know you would." She said planting a kiss on his lips.

"But who'd take care of you, hm?" She asked with a smile. He growled a bit and smiled back.

"Very funny." He said.

"Only kidding, you know that." She told him.

"Hatter you've taken such good care of me since I, well, dropped in, I couldn't have asked for more." She said wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him back into her.

"Thank you so much Hatter, for everything." She said, leaning in and kissing his lips sweetly. She pulled back a bit, looked deep into his brown eyes and sighed contentedly.

"I love you Hatter." She whispered again. He smiled at her.

"I'll never get tired of hearing that love." He said.

"Come on; let's get going, before it's completely dark." He added, taking her hand in his and leading her down the hill.

They got back to the camp just as darkness settled in. The thing was it was too dark. Charlie always had a fire going at night, worry set in, something was wrong.

"Where's Charlie?" She asked. Hatter glanced around, moving in front of her to check the camp.

"I don't know, probably out collecting dinner or something." He said. Alice didn't quite believe him, and she was sure he didn't quite believe himself either.

"I am sure he'll be back soon, come on." He said taking her hand and guiding her to the bed in the corner of the barn. He crawled onto the worn mattress and pulled her in after.

"Shouldn't we go look for Charlie?" She asked, worry creeping into her voice.

"It's too dark now for either of us to go out, Charlie's lived here all his life, I am sure he knows how to get back to camp." He told her, pulling her in close and wrapping an old blanket around both of them. Alice sighed.

"I am sure he's fine." Hatter said, trying to reassure himself as much as he was Alice. The truth was he didn't know why Charlie wasn't here, but it was too late to go out looking so he just had to trust that Charlie was okay and if he wasn't back by morning they'd go looking then.

"You warm enough?" He asked, trying to wrap the blanket tighter around her, the nights got cold here; he didn't want her getting sick.

"I am fine." She said with a smile. She pulled his heavy purple velvet coat tighter around herself and snuggled into his embrace. He smiled and kissed her head lightly.

"Try and get some sleep okay." He whispered to her. She nodded and kissed his neck in response.

"Goodnight Alice, I love you." He said quietly, brushing a few strands of hair behind her ear.

"Love you too." She mumbled, and he smiled again, He could get used to this.

**Alright, Like I said things are still going to happen in the same order and all that it's just that it might take longer to get there or the process to get to that point could be a little different than the series was. I am not sure when the next chapter will be up I am graduating High School in 2 weeks and I have finals to take and all that so it might be a few weeks yet untill the next chapter is posted so just hang in there, I promise I'll update soon. Thanks for reading!**

**~Tara~**


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow, okay. So I know it's been a while and I am not giving you a very long chapter however first I am going to play the excuse card and say that I am offically a high school graduate as of two days ago, so it's been a very hectic few weeks with finals and practices and parties and all that jazz so this is the first chance I've gotten to actually sit down at a computer and work on anything. Secondly, although this chapter isn't very long it's very important and introduces a new little plot twist so please enjoy!**

Hatter was tired, he really was, but his thoughts were racing so much he couldn't sleep. He glanced down at Alice who had her eyes closed, resting against his chest. He brushed a few more stay locks of hair behind her ear and stroked her face lightly.

"Can't sleep either?" She asked, cracking an eye open to look at him. He smiled and chuckled.

"Thinking too much." He told her. She shifted next to him, propping herself up on her elbow.

"What about?" She asked. He let his hand linger under her chin.

"You." He said. She smiled and let him pull her in close, kissing her sweetly.

He couldn't believe it, after all he'd tried to do for her, she went behind his back and got into a relationship with this man, Hatter, he didn't even know who he was, really. He'd heard his mother mention his name once or twice, but he'd never really known why. He wasn't much of anything in his opinion. Just another city resident, a tea shop owner if he remembered right and probably a tea head at one time as well.

Jack clenched his fist around the sword he held. How could she do this to him? All he wanted to do was to help. He didn't understand how she could so easily trust a stranger. Jack knew she had issues with letting her heart go but yet here she was lying in bed with someone she'd just met not two days ago. It upset him, disgusted him, he couldn't think of the right word. In any case he planned to stop it soon enough.

Hatter let her sleep. He wasn't sure what tomorrow would bring but he would rather be rested and prepared just in case, so he kissed Alice once again, wrapped his arms snuggly around her and let himself drift into sleep.

He didn't know how long he slept for; it was still dark when he opened his eyes. It wasn't a loud noise that woke him but he was glad he'd learned to sleep light or he never would have heard it. He glanced down at Alice who was still wrapped safely in his arms. He didn't want to wake her but he wanted to go check on whatever was out there. He slowly untangled himself from her arms and moved into the clearing following the noise. He wasn't too far into the woods when he saw the culprit.

Jack was leaning over Charlie who he was tying up at the moment. A sword was lying on the ground next to Jack. He had to assume this was Jack, he'd never seen Jack Chase, even though he knew enough about him not to like him, but he knew Jack Heart, and if Alice said they were the same person, this was certainly the right Jack. He needed a sword, he thought for a second, Charlie had told him he kept extra swords in a hollowed out log in case of attack. He moved back into the campsite and rushed to a pushed over log lying by itself. He reached inside and pulled out a simple sword, it would have to do. He glanced around and found a large tree he could hide behind, now all he had to do was wait.

Jack was quiet as he walked into camp, Hatter almost lost track of him, if it wasn't for the fact that the sword he was carrying caught what little moonlight was left. Hatter slowed his breathing, careful not to make too much noise and waited until he walked right past the tree he was hiding behind. He stuck his sword out in front of Jack, stopping him mid stride. Hatter took a breath and made himself known.

"I am sure that waiting until sunrise would have been a more appropriate time to come waltzing into our camp, don't you think?" he asked smugly.

"I really don't have time for you, where's Alice?" Jack questioned, stepping out of Hatters direct path and moving around him. Hatter fumed and jumped back in front of him, sword pointed at Jacks chest.

"Alice is quite safe where she is, I suggest you leave her that way." Hatter told him through gritted teeth.

"She needs to come with me." Jack said simply, glancing down at the sword Hatter held and then back at his own, which he'd forgotten he had. He lifted his up and pointed it at Hatters chest, a fair match.

"She's not going anywhere with you." Hatter growled, just the presence of this man made him angry, he looked down at the sword Jack held, gaudy and encrusted with red stones while his was a plain silver, he'd never match up to this man.

"I've been called here to escort her to Caterpillar; she needs to come with me now." Jack said, forcing the blade ever so slightly into Hatters chest.

"And I told you, she's not leaving here, at least not alone with you." Hatter said, pushing his own sword blade into Jacks chest. He wasn't giving up so easily.

"Why are you so determined to protect her, she can do it quite well herself you know, I've seen it." Jack questioned, releasing a bit of the tension he held on his sword.

"I'll protect her if she needs protecting, and from what I understand, you're something she needs protecting from." Hatter said eyeing Jack.

"Well I don't know what lies she's told you to get you into bed with her, but I am here to help her not use her." Jack spat at him, moving past him again. Hatter was done with small talk now. He stepped in front of him again, smacking the side of the blade into his chest.

"She's told me how you lied to her about who you were, how you said you loved her but were engaged to someone else. Or did those things just happen to slip your mind?" Hatter said viscously. Jack shook his head and slapped on a smug smile.  
"I don't have to take this from you." He said trying to move aside again but Hatter wasn't going to just let him walk away, he smacked his sword against Jacks, creating a loud ring that echoed through the camp.

"She's not going with you." He said again. Jack rolled his eyes.

"She can make her own decisions." He told Hatter.

"And my decision is to stay here." Came a voice from behind Hatter. He turned around to find Alice standing behind him, foggy eyed and still a bit out of it from sleep. He let his sword drop to his side and took Alice's hand in his.

"Jack what are you doing here?" She asked.

"I've been sent to escort you to Caterpillar, you need to come with me." He told her. She glanced up at Hatter and shook her head.  
"I am not leaving, at least not without Hatter, and Charlie." She said. Hatter gave her a quick smile and squeezed her hand.

"Alice please we don't have time for this." Jack whined.

"Listen Jack, you can either go back alone or you can wait here until morning and all four of us will go, your choice." She said, standing resolute next to Hatter. Jack scoffed.

"Fine, but we leave first thing in the morning." He said, turning around and sulking over to a fallen log to sit on.

"Charlie hasn't come back yet?" Alice questioned.

"I am over here!" A voice called. She glanced at Hatter who nodded to Jack. Alice turned her head and glared. Jack rolled his eyes and walked over to untie Charlie.

"Leaving in the morning you say? I'd better start packing some things then." He said, moving right back into his normal routine. Alice laughed and tugged on Hatters hand.

"You coming back to bed?" She asked when he turned to look at her. He glanced back over his shoulder to Jack who sat sharpening his sword on a stone.

"Don't worry about him Hatter, come on." She said, pulling him over to the bed, far enough away that Jack couldn't hear the conversation.

"You trust him?" Hatter asked as they sat down together.

"Not exactly." She said, letting him pull her onto his lap so she could rest her head against his chest.

"That's why I said I wouldn't go without you and Charlie, that way if something happens at least I won't be alone." She said smiling up at him. Hatter simply nodded a solemn look on his face.

"What's wrong?" She asked, tracing his chin up to where his dimple would be.

"Alice, you don't think I am using you do you?" He asked, glancing down at her. She sighed.

"Did Jack tell you that?" She questioned. He didn't answer but she knew it had to have been something Jack said.

"I know you're not using me Hatter. In the beginning, when I didn't know your motives, then I was a little wary, but now. No, you're not using me." She said, leaning against his chest and kissing his neck lightly. He breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.

"Don't listen to what Jack says okay?" She asked. He nodded again, still not saying anything. She sighed and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I love you Hatter." She whispered in his ear. He smiled then, glancing down at her and planting a sweet kiss on her lips.

"Love you too." He said, and wrapped his arms tightly around her, stroking her back enough that she fell asleep quickly.

He didn't sleep much though, he still didn't trust Jack, so he stayed awake watching to make sure he didn't do anything he shouldn't. He did fall asleep eventually but Jack never noticed.

**Okay so Jack is back, now the next few chapters are where things drift a bit from the origional plot line in terms of sequence of events. the characters will still come to the same kind of end, they'll just go about it in a different way, so look forward to that. I can say that the next chapter should be up at the eariliest, the end of this week, at the latest the beginning of next week. Thanks so much for reading, please send in a review!**

**~Tara~**


	6. Chapter 6

**So I am a little behind with getting this up I know, sorry! this one actually gave me a bit of trouble. It's an important chapter to the plot and we get a big plot twist with this one so the origional chapter was actually alot longer than this, however I decided to cut it down a bit for your sake and mine. Nothing was cut, so your not missing parts you'll just get the rest of the chapter in the next chapter, confusing I know but basically I just cut one long chapter into two smaller chapters. So enjoy this plot twisty chapter!**

Morning came far too early for Alice; she turned her head away from the light and into, something soft? She cracked her eyes open and last night slowly came back to her, she smiled and buried her head into Hatters chest taking in his spiced scent. She didn't want to get up, if it were up to her, she'd just stay in this moment forever, she felt so comfortable and safe here in his arms she never wanted to leave. But the sun was rising and Hatter would wake up soon, however for now, she'd just live in the moment.

Hatter slept a while longer, waking up slowly and rousing her from the rest she was in.

"Morning." He said in a voice deepened from sleep. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Good morning." She whispered. He leaned down and gave her a sweet kiss which only made the want to stay here in his arms stronger.

"Sleep well?" he asked, rubbing her back.

"Wonderful, thank you." She said, reaching up to take his face in her hand and kiss him again.

"Up and at-um, lovebirds, up and at-um, much to do this morning, much to do!" Charlie called walking past them with bags to put on the horses. Alice groaned and pushed back into the crook of Hatters neck.

"Charlie's right, we have a lot to do if we wanna get going on time." Hatter said giving her head another kiss. She nodded and slowly crawled out of bed straightening her clothes and hair.

"Lovely dear." Hatter said coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her. She laughed and rolled her eyes, she hadn't showed in 2 days now, there was no way she looked as lovely as he said but it was a compliment and she'd take it. She leaned back into his embrace and kissed his neck. He smiled and let her go, both moving into the campsite hand in hand.

"Breakfast is there; when you're done you can help me with the horses." Charlie told him, flitting around from one task to the next. Hatter and Alice took a seat opposite Jack, Hatter completely ignoring his presence, Alice trying as hard as she could.

"When we get into the city I'll take Alice to meet Caterpillar, you and Charlie can wait outside." Jack said.

"You can't order me around like a dog, I'll do whatever I want thank you." Hatter spat.

"The resistance expects Alice to come alone I shouldn't even be bringing you along in the first place." He told him.

"Well your taking me and I'll be following Alice wherever she goes, I don't need you pulling any funny stuff without me there." Hatter said.

"Okay listen." Jack started,

"Knock it off!" Alice said, voice raised. Both men looked at her surprised.

"Jack, Hatter and Charlie are going with us and they'll come with me to meet Caterpillar, or wherever else you take me and I don't want to hear any more about it now can you both please just knock it off." She said.

"We'll see." Jack said. Hatter slammed his plate down and stormed off leaving Alice with her head in her hands.

"It's amazing that there are still people here that are that emotional." Jack said. Alice glanced up at him, a glare on her face.

"Excuse me?" She said.

"That people can be that emotional over such insignificant stuff." He told her.

"It's not insignificant Jack, he cares about me, unlike you and I don't care what you say he's coming with me, understand?" Alice said standing up and leaving in the direction Hatter took. Jack simply scoffed and continued eating.

"You know he doesn't mean it right?" Alice whispered into Hatters ear as they set off for the city. Jack had his own horse and Charlie his but Alice didn't feel comfortable on a horse of her own so she opted to ride with Hatter.

"Mean what?" He asked glancing back at her.

"He doesn't mean all the crap he says; I think he's just trying to protect me." She said, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning against his back.

"Well he could do it a little less." Hatter said quietly. Alice sighed but didn't say anything. There was nothing she could do to make the two men see eye to eye, she was just going to have to accept that.

They road for a while longer before Jack decided they should stop for a break. Charlie and Jack hopped off their horses and Hatter helped Alice off theirs, pulling her into his arms and holding her close. She reached up and cupped his face in her hand.

"I love you Hatter." She said emphasizing the entire statement, hoping he'd understand how much he meant to her. He pulled her into a quick passionate kiss.

"I love you too." He whispered to her.

They were stopped by a river so everyone got a quick drink and a bit to eat and then got back on their horses and continued on.

"What do you think he's gonna do once we get there?" Hatter asked a few minutes once they started out again.  
"What do you mean?" Alice questioned.

"Well he's obviously not gonna let me or Charlie go to meet Caterpillar with you, so how do you think he's gonna get rid of us?" He said. Alice sighed.

"I don't know Hatter, I wish he'd just let you guys go but he said the resistance only wanted me, I don't want them to not help me because I brought extra people." She said quietly.

"I'll just stay outside the city with Charlie, your right I don't want to get you into more trouble." Hatter said.

"Are you sure?" She asked, it wasn't like Hatter to give up so easily.

"I trust you Alice, Jack not so much, but I trust you to kick his ass if he try's any funny stuff and I'll be nearby if you need help." He said looking back at her, she smiled and let her heart warm at the fact that he trusted her. She smiled, kissed his neck and rested her head against his jacket.

"I love you." She whispered, more to herself than to Hatter. He heard her but understood she hadn't wanted him to hear that one so he didn't say anything, simply smiled to himself.

They rode for a while and eventually the sun began to set.

"How far away are we from the city?" Alice asked. Hatter glanced around, taking in his surroundings.

"Not too far, if we stop off for the night here we should reach the city by noon tomorrow." He told her. He felt her nod against his back.

"Jack we should stop." She called up to him. He didn't say anything back but he slowed down and stopped in a small clearing.

It took a while to set up camp but eventually they had a small fire going and a bit of extra meat that Charlie had brought along for dinner. Hatter and Alice sat together, Hatter leaning against a tree and Alice leaning against him. They ate quickly and watched the small fire slowly burn out. It got cold fast with less heat and Charlie passed out blankets to Hatter and Alice, Jack and himself. Hatter wrapped the thick blanket as tightly as he could around Alice and himself and Alice moved closer to Hatter, trying to take in whatever warmth she could.

"Warm enough?" He asked. She shivered but nodded anyway.

"Yeah." She whispered. He wrapped his arms tighter around her, hoping to offer some more heat and she settled into his embrace, letting herself relax.

"Try and sleep, we'll have to leave pretty early tomorrow if we wanna make it to the city." He said. She nodded and kissed his neck; he smiled and leaned down to capture her lips sweetly.

"Love you." He whispered, she smiled against his lips and kissed him again.

"Love you too." She said.

It took her a while to fall asleep but eventually Hatter's breathing lulled her off and she fell into a semi peaceful sleep. She could feel Hatter's warmth around her which helped her relax but sometime throughout the night she got cold and she woke up to find Jack slowly pulling her out of Hatters embrace. She woke with a start and stood quickly.

"What are you doing?" She yelled as quiet as she could.

"Were leaving come on." He told her, grabbing her arm and pulling her away.

"No, I told you I am not going without them." She said.

"Look, I am not gonna let you get in trouble with the resistance and if you don't want your friends to get in trouble either I suggest you come with me now!" He said, trying not to wake the sleeping men around them.

"Now come on." He said taking her arm again and pulling her away from Hatter. She wanted to yell, and she started to but Jack stopped her, covering her mouth with his hand.

"They're not going to wake up. There out cold." He said pulling a piece of cloth from his pocket.

"What did you do?" She asked, suddenly even more concerned.

"Your little friend over there isn't the only one with a bit of Wonderland magic in their blood." He told her.

"What did you do?" She reiterated, more forcefully this time.

"I talked to them, put um to sleep; they won't be waking up for a while." Was all he said and then wrapped the cloth around her mouth, gagging her, cutting off any possibility that she could yell again. She couldn't believe this, of all the stupid useless things Jack could have done and his specialty was talking to people to make them fall asleep, Alice let herself laugh at the irony of it all, but it didn't make this situation any less stressful for her.

She had to think fast, how could she tell Hatter that she didn't leave willingly, that he should follow her. The first thing that came to mind was his jacket. She pulled it off and left it laying on the ground, hoping that would instill some kind of fear in him and he'd come after her but she didn't have time to think of anything else, Jack had already pulled her onto a horse and they were riding away.

Hatter woke up hours later, the sun just peeking over the horizon. Immediately he noticed the absence of Alice and he stood up quickly checking to see if she was around the camp somewhere but he couldn't find her, he also couldn't find Jack, which worried him even more. It wasn't until he got back to the center of camp, after checking around the outlying forest did he see the purple jacket he'd given her laying on the ground. He picked it up slowly and dusted the dirt off of it carefully; something was wrong, terribly wrong. He woke Charlie, hoping he could be of some assistance.

"Yes, yes what is it?" Charlie said after being shaken for a good two minutes by Hatter.

"Alice is gone." He said, trying to hide the worry in his voice.

"What do you mean she's gone?" Charlie said sitting up straight.

"I mean she's not here, gone, and I am pretty sure Jack took her because he's not here either." Hatter said letting a bit of anger boil up.

"Well then we should get going, if they didn't leave to long ago we can still track them." Charlie said standing and moving to get the horses ready. Hatter got his own horse ready and they were off in a matter of minutes.

Charlie was right, there were still tracks on one solid trail which Charlie told Hatter had to be Jack's. All the horses owned by the Hearts had hoofs in the shape of a heart so it was obvious which horse was Jacks and which was there's. Hatter was glad that it wouldn't be too hard to follow Jacks' trail and Charlie said they'd reach the city by noon so he shouldn't worry, but he couldn't help it. Something told him that Alice had not gone with Jack willingly and he was certainly not going to let her be in harm's way, not if he had anything to say about it.

Alice road all night with Jack, eventually he took the gag out of her mouth which at least let her breath easier, but it didn't make her any happier. No matter what she did she couldn't stop thinking of Hatter and hoping that he would understand what little of a message she had left for him. If only she could think as fast as him, maybe she would have come up with something better, but it was too late for that now.

They reached the city well after the sun had risen in the sky, a giant clock they happened to pass in the city read nine o'clock but she didn't know if that was the right time or not, for all she knew that clock could have been broken for years.

Jack made his way to a large building he told Alice was the Hospital of Dreams. He then walked them both up to the door and into a massive hall with one desk in the middle. A girl who looked to be about Alice's age glanced up at Jack and told him which floor to go to. He thanked the lady and pulled Alice along to an elevator.

"When I meet this Caterpillar, what am I supposed to do?" Alice asked him.

"Nothing, He'll ask all the questions, you just answer as best you can." Jack told her.

"Alice I really am sorry for kidnapping you but I didn't want you to get in any more trouble and your friends couldn't have come along with us anyway, the resistance wouldn't have let them." Alice didn't say anything, just waited in silence until the doors opened and they were met with a small hallway and one door on the left.

Jack led her down the hall and they turned the corner which led to small stairs that eventually opened up into a massive indoor pool and floating at the center on a little wooden boat was Caterpillar.

"Do you have the ring?" He asked Jack.

"Yes." He said reaching in his pocket for it.

"No, no, should the moment arise I must be able to swear under oath that I've never laid eyes on it." He said, Alice was a bit stunned by his reasoning.  
"Ask the girl to come closer." He said. Jack turned to her.

"Alice, come closer." He said leading her out onto the deck of the pool and around the side. Caterpillar hummed in approval and simply said

"Not as tall as I imagined. Ask her if she's scared." He said. Jack turned to Alice again.

"Alice are you.." Alice had, had quite enough of this game.

"I heard him; you can ask me yourself you know, I am right here." She said. Caterpillar ignored her comment and continued on anyway.

"When did you last see your father?" He asked her.

"When I was ten." Alice said, a bit wary to give up any information to someone she'd just met

"Ten, a long time ago." Caterpillar mused  
"Where is he?" She asked, He didn't answer, instead took a large breath of smoke from a pipe, she looked to Jack for an explanation but he said nothing.

"Your father is a very difficult man to reach, we've been tracking him for a long time but never got close enough to pop the question. Never once, and do you know what it is we want to ask him?" Caterpillar continued

"No." Alice said, the man spoke in riddles, she was getting even more confused than she already was

"Not even ready to hazard a little guess." He prompted

"What are you talking about?"

"Horizons my dear, I am talking about bright new horizons, and that's where you come in." Caterpillar said, motioning towards her

"Where I come in?"

"Yes, when you first met Jack did you think it was a happy accident, the fickle finger of fate?" He asked her. Alice was now suddenly unsure of everything she thought she knew

"Wasn't it?"

**Okay so like I said a bit of a plot twist here and I kind of left you hanging as to the outcome but I promise it's in the next chapter. Um about Jacks weird ability that he has, that's actually credited to my friend, I asked her how Jack would get Alice away without the others noticing and she jokingly said that he should have a magic ability that when he talks to people he put's them to sleep. I wasn't actually going to use it but I am not a Jack fan and I figured it just sounded so stupid that it would be the perfect ability for Jack to have, and knowing him, he'd be super proud of it too. So if you got a bit of a laugh out of that you can thank my friend for that one. Next chapter should be up by the end of this week, I have a party on saturday but I am looking to get it up Sunday or next Monday at the latest. Thank you and please send a review!**

**~Tara~**


	7. Chapter 7

**Alright well I am almost on time, sorry everyone. So this chapter moves the plot along pertty quick, we still have a few more to go though before we get to the end so no worries there, next chapter should be posted within a week Enjoy!**

It was a little before noon when Hatter and Charlie reached the city. They continued to follow the horse's tracks as far as they went but eventually they stopped off and following Jacks footprints was a much harder job. After a bit of bad tracking and some asking around they wound up standing in front of the Hospital of Dreams, a place Hatter knew was trouble which only made him worry more for Alice's safety.

"We should check the surrounding buildings." Charlie offered, seeing that Hatter was struggling with what to do next. He nodded and they started off, climbing to the rooftops of the buildings that surrounded the Hospital and checking for any sign of Alice.

They were coming up empty and about to head back down to the street when Hatter heard movement one building over. He stopped and glanced over to find Jack with Alice and a man he didn't know.

"Charlie!" Hatter hissed, getting the old man's attention. He came rushing over as quietly as he could with all his armor on.

"Don't say anything; I don't want to let them know where here yet." Hatter said

"If Jack sees us now he's likely to put Alice in more danger, he doesn't want us here; we have to stay hidden for now." Charlie nodded agreeing to Hatters terms.

"Come on." Hatter said, turning away from their spot and climbing over fire escapes to the other building, following Alice just enough that he could keep an eye on her but she didn't know he was there.

He couldn't figure out who the other man was with Jack and Alice, he assumed it was Caterpillar but he'd never seen him so he couldn't be sure. Either way he was part of the resistance so that meant Hatter and Charlie had to keep hidden, at least for now. They followed Alice and Jack down a small pathway and watched a whole new roof spread out before them at the push of a button. But there were people on the other end of the roof, someone Alice seemed to know but Hatter couldn't get close enough to hear any words.

They sat for a few minutes trying to find an opportune time to alert Alice to their presence but they couldn't think of anything. It was still quiet when they heard rustling beneath them and Hatter stuck his head over the side of the building to see at least twenty Suits making their way up the stairs to the roof. He panicked, he had to do something fast but he didn't know what. There was no way he'd be able to knock off all the Suits by himself and even if he called Alice over just the two of them would only be able to take so many before they got outnumbered. No he had to do this one himself, with some possible assistance from Charlie.

"Hey, Charlie, listen to me. I need you to do something okay. There's people coming up the stairs, you need to go intercept them, act as crazy as you can just try and distract them for me, I have to get in there to get Alice, if you can get them away from this building that's even better. Okay?" he asked. Charlie stood and saluted him.

"Anything to keep Just Alice safe." He said, "I'll get these people as far away from here as possible." He added and then dashed down the stairs. Hatter sat for a few minutes, listening to Charlie spout off words he didn't even know but surprisingly after a while he saw Charlie leading the mass of suits off into the distance, pointing at things as he went and making a huge scene.  
"Way to go Charlie." Hatter whispered. "Now to get Alice." He said, slowly making his way up the stairs and to the rooftop where she stood.

"Alice!" He called, putting himself in plain sight.

Alice turned around to see Hatter standing at the other edge of the rooftop. She suddenly forgot about Jack or Caterpillar or anyone else and rushed into Hatters open arms. He hugged her tightly, whispering in her ear and kissing her hair softly.

"I am so glad you came." She said, looking up at him.

"Please, you think I'd just let this pig kidnap you and not come after him." Hatter said, glaring at Jack who had moved closer to the two.

"And I believe you dropped this." He whispered, slipping the purple velvet jacket from behind his back and giving it to her. She smiled at him and slipped the jacket on again.

"I only did it to keep her safe." Jack said.

"Please, you did it for your own twisted objective and I won't have you do it again." Hatter said, releasing Alice and stepping up to Jack.

"Well she's completely un harmed and in one piece so you're welcome to have her back." Jack said.

"Un harmed, please, you kidnapped me in the middle of the night, gagged me, drug me through this ridiculous sky city, and took me to this psycho hospital, un harmed is not the word I'd use." Alice said. Hatter was fuming by this point, just being around Jack upset him but to hear everything he'd put her though.

"He did what?" Hatter asked, turning back to Alice who instantly saw the rage in his eyes.

"Nothing Hatter, just drop it okay, I am here now, alright." She said trying to take his hand and calm him down but Hatter had other ideas; he acted on impulse, turned around and let his right fist do the work for him, slamming Jack to the ground with a punch to the face.

"Hatter!" Alice cried behind him, grabbing his right hand before he could do anything else.

"I said to just drop it." She said, trying to talk some kind of sense into him but he wasn't thinking straight anymore and he dropped to the ground over Jack to let his fist fly against his face again.  
"Hatter, stop it!" Alice screamed, trying desperately to pull him off of Jack but both of them were going at it now and Jack had no intention of losing so he slugged Hatter in the jaw, knocking him off balance for a few seconds giving Jack the upper hand, slamming Hatter into the ground. But he wasn't down for long; it only took Hatter a few seconds to push Jack back, returning the favor and shoving him into the ground.

Alice had, had enough, she wrapped her arms around Hatters waist and pulled him back with as much strength as she could, screaming at him the entire time to stop. Once he was off of Jack and sitting next to Alice his face started to clear of the anger. She stroked his face gently, wiping blood off his chin and whispering calming words to him.

"You both care for her deeply don't you?" Caterpillar asked.

"Yes." Jack said, wiping blood off his face.

"No you don't." Both Hatter and Alice said together.

"You've been using me this entire time Jack, I can't trust a word you say anymore." Alice said, stunning Jack a bit. He got up slowly and walked to the other side of the roof, talking with the men there.

"And you are?" Caterpillar asked.

"Hatter." He said, helping Alice to her feet.

"Ah yes, I've heard many things about you, you've been helping Alice these past few days correct?" Caterpillar questioned.

"Yes, I have." Hatter said taking Alice's hand in his.

"I understand your anger with Jack but he was simply doing the job we presented him with." Caterpillar said.

"Yeah well." Hatter trailed off not knowing what else to say.

"Where's Charlie?" Alice asked.  
"Oh, we need to get you guys out of here, there's about twenty Suits looking for you, I sent Charlie to lead um off but I don't know how long they'll stay with him." Hatter said.

"Not very long."

Hatter turned to find Mad March and the party of Suits standing on the roof. Hatter instantly moved Alice behind him.

"Don't bother Hatter, we've already got you surrounded, you're coming with us." He said, the robotic voice sending chills down Alice's spine. She could feel Hatter tense but she squeezed his hand

"Don't Hatter, there's no point, we can't take um all on ourselves." She said, defeat in her voice. Hatter relaxed but didn't lose the sharp look on his face.

He let them put cuffs on himself and Alice, They'd been so busy with the both of them and Jack they lost track of Caterpillar but no one seemed to care much. Jack got a front seat ride in the scarab while Hatter and Alice were shoved into the back cargo hold. Alice slumped down against the wall, bringing her knees up to her chest and letting her head rest in her hands.

Hatter was more than angry, not being able to do anything, letting himself get caught so easily, he needed an outlet and fast. He ripped the plastic cuffs off his hands, turned around and slammed his right fist into the wall of the scarab, making a huge dent in the metal.

Alice jumped at the sound and looked up at Hatter as he shook out his fist.

"Hatter please, I am sorry." She said quietly, knowing it wouldn't be enough. Hatter was a fighter; she knew it had to be hard for him to not even try. He came down and sat next to her, pulling her into his arms and kissing her sweetly.

"_I am_ sorry, I am sorry I didn't get you to leave earlier, I am sorry I thought I could fall asleep with Jack around and not think he wasn't going to do something horrible. And now look where we are." He said. Alice sighed and took his face in her, still cuffed hands.

"Were gonna be okay, we got out of the casino before, we'll do it again. And besides I didn't see Charlie so he must still be out there somewhere." She said, trying to offer him a little hope. He nodded slowly

"Yeah, your right." He said, leaning in to kiss her again.

"I still love you." She whispered. He smiled.

"Good, cause I love you too." He said, pulling her in for another kiss.

They spent the rest of the ride in each other's arms each avoiding the thought that there might not be a way out of this one.

The rest of the ride was uneventful. The two sat in silence the entire way both their minds racing and trying to figure out what to do when they landed. Sadly by the time the scarab began its decent, neither of the two had come up with anything.

"What now?" Alice asked as Hatter stood, quickly moving to the door.

"Just stay back for now, There probably isn't much we can do, if they want to take us there going to, there's not much we can do about it." He said. Alice could hear the sadness in his voice but she didn't know what else to do for him.

"You're not cuffed anymore, they're gonna go after you." Alice pointed out, a bit panicked.

"Yeah, probably." Hatter said glancing back and giving her a wink.

"Don't you dare get yourself hurt." She said, he didn't look back at her but she saw him nod.

The door opened slowly, almost as if they were scared of what was going on inside. A few suits came in soon after and even though Hatter tried to make a break for it, there were still too many and he ended up back in handcuffs in seconds. The suits escorted the two out of the scarab and into the casino; they walked down hallways silently until they arrived in front of a massive door covered in black and white circles. A man who the other suits simply called number ten opened the large doors and motioned for Alice and Hatter to be taken inside. Alice recognized the room right away, the throne room, but there was no Queen in it at the moment.

"The prisoners' sir." Number ten said, stepping up to a man Alice knew to be the king.

"Ah, Alice, not causing too much trouble I hope." He said, Alice kept a blank face, ignoring the question altogether.

"And you brought along a guest this time I see." The king continued, sizing up Hatter.

"It is Hatter, I presume, correct?" He asked. Hatter didn't answer, just stared him down.

"Well, no need to answer." The king called to a group of suits standing behind them. They walked up next to the king who took another look at Hatter.

"Check him, please." The king said. Alice could see Hatter flinch out of the corner of her eye but she didn't know why. She looked over at him, trying to catch his gaze with her own but he wouldn't look at her, the pain in his eyes was great though, that was obvious.  
Two of the suits walked up to Hatter and stood in front of him.

"Would you like to do it yourself, or should we find it for you?" They asked. Alice was completely confused as to what they were talking about. Hatter glanced over at Alice; she could see the worry in his eyes.

"I'll do it myself, do you mind?" He said, holding out his cuffed hands to the suits. They took the cuffs off of him as he glared at them, Alice decided if looks could kill, they'd have been out of here already; Hatter was not exactly pleased with the current situation. Once his hands were free he reached around to his back. She couldn't tell what he was doing but he was watching her the whole time. Finally he sighed and turned his back on the king. He glanced at Alice again and then slowly lifted the back of his shirt up, revealing a nasty scar that reached from his tailbone to the side of his chest. Alice tried not to be shocked, or worried, or show any emotion for that matter but the king simply nodded his head.

"See, I told you, you didn't have to answer. We know who you are Hatter." He said. Hatter turned back around as the king took one last look over the both of them.

"Leave the Oyster here." He said glancing at Alice.

"But you, March would like to have a few words with you." He said to Hatter.

"Take him away." The king commanded, and then left the room.

Panic set in for Alice immediately and she could feel tears coming to her eyes as she watched them re-cuff Hatter. He never took his eyes off hers though, trying to send some kind of message but Alice didn't want to hear it. Eventually the suits moved to take him away but by that time she was ready for a fight. She burst out of the arms of the two suits that were holding her and tried with desperation to get the other two suits away from Hatter but there wasn't much she could do without hands and hers were a bit tied up. Hatter was able to grab her arm though and pull her in close, inches away from his own face.

"You don't worry about me okay, get yourself out of here and if I don't follow you don't come back for me understand?" he said, the intensity of his voice scared her and tears started to fall as she shook her head.

"No, I am not leaving you," He cut her off quickly.

"Alice, I am serious, stop, look." He took her face in his hands.

"Don't come back for me Alice, promise me." She shook her head again.  
"I won't leave you." The suits were back on their feet and pulling the two apart, dragging Hatter out of the room.

"Promise me Alice!" He yelled, Alice couldn't say anything, she just shook her head and cried, she listened to him though, yelling her name, until the door shut and cut off the sound, which only made her cry more.

Seconds later two other suits entered the room, pushing what Alice assumed was a giant hamster ball.

"Let's go." One of the suits said, grabbing Alice by the arm and pulling her over to the ball. The other suit opened the door and they shoved Alice inside closing and locking the door tight.

"No! no what is this! Let me out!" Alice called, but they simply looked at her with confused looks.

"What'd she say?" One of them asked.

"Who knows, come on." The other answered. They couldn't hear her. The thing was soundproof. Alice shrunk back against the curved wall, and as much as she hated to, she let herself slip to the ground and cry, holding as tight as she could to the purple velvet wrapped around her shoulders.


	8. Chapter 8

**So I am a little early but I wanted to get this up before the 4th cause I knew I wouldn't have time to get it up then, my family always has a big party and everything. Sady this chapter isn't that intresting, just a bit of filler to get us to the next chapter, but I hope you like it eaither way!**

Charlie sat at the campsite, worry making him sick to his stomach. The suits had left him without him even knowing, he kept going for minutes after they'd already left. Finally when he turned around to find no one there he hurried back to the city as fast as he could. He was to late though, he got there just in time to see them being hauled into the back of a Scarab, but he instantly knew he was there last hope so he stayed hidden and made his way back to the fortress.

Now he sat quietly on a log in front of the burned out fire from the other night. He had no idea what he was going to do; he'd been wracking his brain for the past hour and hadn't come up with anything other than plans that would obviously fail. He got up and began to pace, thinking the movement would stimulate some decent plans. He walked and walked until he ended up in front of the skeleton of the Red King.

"I know what you're thinking." He whispered, staring at the skeleton.

"Of all the Knights to survive it had to be me, the gutless one. I am not even a Knight; I am a charlatan, an imposter, a big fat fraud!" He scolded.

"While Just Plain Alice and her Harbinger are tortured to death at the casino you sit around here eating Borrigove cutlets and dreaming of the good old days, well it's about time you stopped dreaming and did something for real, something useful, something brave, something." Charlie paused, glancing at the king on his throne.

"Something like, yes!" He said happily, the plan forming in his head quickly and he was into action.

She sat in the ball for what seemed like forever, no one coming in or out of the throne room. Eventually the door cracked open and Alice saw blonde hair enter, Jack. He walked up to the ball she was in slowly, taking her in. She knew she looked horrible she'd only just stopped crying a few seconds ago.

"What do you want?" She said angrily, only realizing after that he couldn't hear her.

"Alice, I am truly sorry about all of this." He said flipping a switch on the side of the ball.

"You can talk, I can hear you now." He said pointing at the top of the ball.

"Why did they put me in this thing?" She asked, her voice sore from crying.

"They think you're a contaminant." He said, as if it were nothing new.

"Are they going to let me out?" She asked.

"Probably not." He said. Alice's stomach dropped, how was she ever going to get out of this mess.

"I am sorry Alice." Jack said again. Alice glared at him.

"No Jack, You're not." She said. Jack could feel the anger in her voice. He turned away from her slowly.  
"Where's Hatter?" She asked quickly. Jack turned back to her, the worry clear on her face. He sighed.

"The suits took him to the truth room, apparently March wanted to talk to him, I don't know where he is now." He said flipping the switch on her cell and leaving the room. She tried to stop the tears from coming again but to no avail. She was just too worried about Hatter.

He told her not to wait for him, to go, and not worry about getting him to safety but he knew she wouldn't. She'd come storming back in here and probably yell at him for thinking she'd ever leave him. At the moment he didn't think he'd mind that, I'd certainly be better than what he was going through now.

He tried to shut his mind off to the pain, let himself shut down but he couldn't. His thoughts kept coming back to Alice which let the pain in.

In truth he had no clue what the psycho twins were doing, and he found it a bit ridiculous that they thought they could break him so easily. But he gave them the benefit of the doubt, letting out a scream every now and then to make them feel better about themselves. He wouldn't think about the pain right now. He couldn't.

Alice didn't know how long she sat there, eventually not being able to cry anymore because she had no strength left. People started filing into the room and Alice stood trying to make herself look somewhat presentable. She saw Jack and the King, and the women she remembered as Duchess among others, and soon the Queen.

"Where is it, where's my ring?" She asked loudly.

"Should be here any second now my dear." The king said, stepping up to her side.

Alice watched the doors and soon one of the men came through with the ring sitting on a tray. He walked up to the Queen who instantly took the ring and placed it on her finger. Alice got a sick feeling in her stomach; she refused to believe that this fight would be over so soon, they would find a way out of this. Alice was pulled from her thoughts by hearing the Queen speak again.

"What is she doing in that thing?" She asked glancing at Alice

"She's a contaminate." The king said.

"A what?" She questioned.

"Jack discovered she's carpenters daughter, went to fetch her so she could turn him against you, you know, wake him up." He explained.

"So that's why he wanted the awful creature, evil boy." The Queen hissed, staring at Jack.

Alice looked at the crowd, finding her dad in the corner of the room

"Dad, dad!" She called as loud as she could.

"What did she say?" The Queen asked.

"Mad, I think she said she's mad." The King answered. Alice had forgotten no one could hear her.

"Quite right, if I am to consider her evidence I must hear her clearly." The Queen said.

"But carpenter would hear her as well, it's too risky." He whispered.

"Good heavens Winston you're paranoid." The Queen said walking over to Alice's dad.

"Recognize that girl over there?" She said, motioning to Alice.

"Dearest please." The King pleaded.

"She's an actress Jack brought here with some story about being my daughter."

"Do you have a daughter?" The Queen asked.

"Of course not, but the resistance will try anything." He answered.

"Go over there and take a good look at her." The Queen said.

He walked over to Alice slowly, staring at her all the time.

"Why did Jack pick her do you think?" The Queen asked.

"Because she is his daughter." Jack said.

"Quiet, ungrateful child." The Queen yelled.

"Perhaps because she's a very good actress." Her dad guessed.

"I am going to have her executed you know." The Queen said. Panic set in again.

"So?" He asked.

"Doesn't that bother you, even a little?" She asked. Her dad looked at her; Alice tried as hard as she could to plead with her eyes, knowing she couldn't say anything.

"Why should it?" He said finally. Alice could feel the tears already.

"Excellent, you may go." The Queen said.

Alice blocked out the rest of the conversation, fear overwhelming everything else. She only heard the Queen when she said she was going to banish Alice, send her home. The words crushed her, in some weird way she thought execution would have been better, at least then she wouldn't have to live with the what if's.

They took Alice to a scarab and pushed her inside. Taking her to the looking glass to send her home. She couldn't help but think of Hatter, she didn't even know where he was, wouldn't even get to say goodbye. She pressed the tears away, she would not cry, not here.

Hatter had barely managed to escape. It was easy to take down March, one blow to his stupid ceramic head and he was done. The twins were a bit trickier, especially when it was two on one. Luckily it didn't take him long to take one down. And once he was alone with the other it was an easy battle. He found his jacket and hat in the corner of the room and then burst through the door into piercing white light. It was much darker inside the room. He took a second to let his eyes adjust and then started looking around. He had a few options, If Alice was still here, she'd either be in the throne room, the game room, or the truth room. And since he saw no one heading in his direction he figured the last was out of the question for now. So he turned the corner and headed back the way he came, towards the throne room.

He was lucky and saw no suits standing at the doors so he slowly walked up and cracked them open, the room was empty, a giant plastic ball sat in the middle of the floor with a door on the side hanging open, Alice wasn't here. He sighed and shut the door turning around and following a group of diamonds back to the game room. He slipped into a corner as they went in, seeing a few suits standing with the king at the doors to the room. He hid until he was sure they were gone and then slipped into the game room. Instantly sound and music overwhelmed his senses, there were far too many people in here, it would take forever. Unfortunately he had to start somewhere, and this was the best option. So slowly he made his way around the room, careful not to be seen by any of the diamonds or the suits guarding the Oysters. He stayed hidden in corners or under empty game tables but made no move to come out into the open, Until he saw Alice, not exactly where he expected her though, she wasn't hooked up to a table, emotions being drained from her, she was up on the stage, with two suits pointing their guns at her. He sighed and mentally cursed himself for falling for a girl who had a way of always getting into trouble. He slowly made his way out from under the table and caught Alice's gaze, he put his finger to his lips and winked at her, coming to the side of one of the suits and knocking him hard in the head with his fist. Alice took the opportunity to knock the gun out of the other suits hand and Hatter took care of the rest, giving a swift right hook to the face. He dropped down quickly to pick up the discarded guns.

"Hatter, your okay?" Alice said. He figured she intended it to be more of a statement but it came out like a question. He stood up and offered her a gun.

"Oh my god." She said, finally getting a good look at the bruises and scars on his face.

"Oh, I am fine, it's a few cuts and bruises, I'll be." He was cut off by her arms wrapping around his neck, he let himself relax in the moment for a second.

"I thought you were dead." She whispered. He leaned back and noticed how red and swollen her eyes looked, she'd been crying, a lot.

"Well I am okay now." He said, leaning down to give her a quick reassuring kiss on the lips.

"Were getting out of here." He said taking her hand and turning towards the door.

"No." Alice said pulling him back.

"No?" He really didn't understand why she would want to stay.

"I have an idea, do you see anymore suits in here?" She asked, glancing around.

"I don't think so no." he said.

"Let's find something to seal the other exit." She said, rushing to the door. She opened it a crack, and saw a good twenty or more suits racing for the door.

"Find something to brace the door." She said.

"Okay." He looked around quickly and found a broom placed in an alcove in the room. He brought it over and braced the handles of the door with it.

"Charlie said the Queen only wanted to feel the good not the bad remember?" Alice asked when he was back by her side.

"So?" he questioned, he really had no clue where she was going with this.

"We're gonna stir up some emotions."

**Alright, so like I said, just a bit of filler to get us moving, but the next chapter should be posted soon so you shouldn't have to wait very long, I am planning on getting it up sometime mid week. So for all my fellow Americans out there, have a happy 4th, blow some stuff up! haha, just kidding. stay safe and enjoy the holiday!**

**~Tara~**


	9. Chapter 9

**So I had planned to have this up yesterday but time got away from me and I compleatly forgot, so I hope posting it early this morning makes up for that. Anyway This is kind of another short chapter, most of the stuff is similar to the mini, I added a quick little scene to it, just trying to flesh out the missing bits we didn't get to see!**

They rushed to the front of the game room, Alice hopped up on the stage and Hatter took over one of the dancers stands. Both started firing off rounds from their guns, getting the diamonds attention.

The plan was good, at least in Alice's opinion it was, and it was working too, very well actually, until the suits busted down the door and started firing at her and Hatter. They fired back, Alice was beyond determined to not fail, they were going to do this. Alice was busy checking the bullets in her gun when she heard a man's voice shouting for them to stop shooting. She glanced up and saw her dad standing in the doorway.

"I'll deal with this." He said. Alice stood up and pointed the gun in his direction.

"Stop right there." She called, stopping him in his tracks.

"It's me Alice, it's your dad." He tried, pleading with her. Alice shook her head.

"No, you don't remember me, you don't remember anything." She said, trying not to tear up.

"But I do, thanks to you." He said, Alice shook her head.

"I don't believe you, this is just another trick." She said, pushing back more tears. Why should she believe him, he truthfully didn't remember her the last time she saw him.

"You see this guy, he's the one who brought you here, he hocked you up and when he's done with you. When he's done with you he'll get rid of you." She yelled at the people. They stared at her, listening to what she was saying.

"Isn't that right? Daddy isn't that right?" She yelled, waving the gun at her dad.

"It was a Sunday, and we'd just come back from the movies." Her dad said, ignoring her anger.

"And you were wearing your yellow dress, and those, those black shoes that always hurt your feet." He continued, walking slowly towards her.

"And Carol, met us in the driveway and told us Dinah had been hit by a car."

Alice stood still; she could hardly believe what she was hearing, how could her father possibly remember all of this if the last time he had no memory of anything.

"And you ran into the yard and hid and I came and found you and held you for hours while you wept." He said, getting closer.

"I should have known you the moment I saw you, I've been a fool Alice I've missed so much, wasted so much time. Please forgive me." He said, Alice looked in his eyes, deep in his eyes, and she could tell, that somehow he really did remember her. She nodded slowly, letting a few tears fall as her dad wrapped his arms around her.

"I am so sorry." He whispered. She nodded again and hugged him tighter. She didn't know anything was wrong but she felt him still and heard him yell. He spun her back around and she heard a gunshot, could feel the force of it, he went limp and she let him slip from her arms, falling to the floor. She looked up to find a much larger man pointing a gun at her, with a blood stain on clothes. She froze, unable to move, unable to think. She didn't know what to do, the world around her became cloudy, sound muffled, she could hear gunshots and she shook with the force of them. She glanced down at herself, expecting to see blood but only found the blue of her dress, she was confused, she looked back up at the man just in time to see him fall to the ground. Now she was truly confused, she glanced around quickly, trying to figure out where the shots had come from, she found Hatter standing next to her with the most frightening look she'd ever seen on him. The smoke rose from his gun, his face set in firm lines and she swore she saw tears in his eyes, but she'd never question it.

Everything sped back into reality, the oysters were released, running out the door, pushing and shoving to get through as the building began to shake more violently. Alice dropped down next to her dad's side.

"I'll go find help." She said, looking around the room to try and find a suit but no one else was here besides herself and Hatter.

"No stay." Her dad said, his breaths were deep and labored, she could tell he needed help

"God, I am sorry, it's my fault." She said, her hands moving around nervously, trying to think of something to do.

"No, you did good, I am proud of you." He said with a cough.

"I kinda messed things up though didn't I?" He said, letting out a laugh that turned into another cough.

"We'll make it right." Alice said, trying to think positive.

"I am sorry jellybean; you're on your own." He said, taking a few strangled breaths.

"Dad." She said, trying to shake him, get him to stay awake but she knew it was too late now.

"No, daddy, please." She cried, she could feel the building start to shake more and she knew there was nothing more she could do.

She felt strong arms wrap around her waist pulling her up.

"Alice, please, we have to get out of here now please, I am sorry." Hatter whispered, guiding her out of the game room and into the hallway of the casino.

They ran down stairs and through corridors as fast as they could, Hatter kept a tight hold on her hand making sure she was there with him every step. Finally they reached the doors and made their way out among a mass of other casino workers and Oysters. They got pulled apart though, a small group of Oysters cut between them and Hatter lost his grip on her, they were each pulled different ways and Alice hadn't even noticed Hatter wasn't next to her until the building had already crumbled. She was knocked over by the force of it and when she and the rest of the people around her got back up she couldn't find Hatter anywhere. A wave of panic hit her and a multitude of what if's flooded her mind. She instantly started looking everywhere, walking in all different directions calling his name but no one answered. She got frustrated and scared and started screaming for him but still no answer. Oysters were walking by her, eagerly wrapping their arms around friends and family members they hadn't seen in months but she was alone, she felt tears come to her eyes again.  
"Hatter!" She screamed, no one answered. She tried to calm herself, he had to be here somewhere, she knew he got out of the building with her. She took a few steadying breaths and was quiet for a few seconds, suddenly she swore she heard someone call her name. She turned behind her, trying to figure out where the voice came from. She heard it again, she knew it was Hatter right away, she could hear his accent, but she didn't know where he was.

"Hatter!" She called again, as loudly as she could, hoping wherever he was he could hear her.

"Alice?" Came a yelled reply. She looked around franticly, watching for any sign of him but she still couldn't see him.

"Alice?" He yelled again, he sounded louder this time. She turned around and saw him, his tan hat poking through the crowd.

"Hatter!" She called, making her way through the mass of people towards him. He turned and saw her and quickly started pushing people out of his way to get to her. He wrapped her in his arms instantly, holding her so tight it was almost painful but she didn't mind at all. She tried to hold back tears of relief but a few got through. He calmed her, rubbed her back, kissed her hair gently and whispered calming words in her ear.

"It's okay, I am here Alice, I am here." He whispered. She nodded and wrapped herself tighter in his embrace.

The Queen was a little more than upset about the whole ordeal. She burst through the crowd of Oysters screaming for Alice.

"There, she's there get her!" She called, a group of suits emerging from behind her.

"Touch the lady and I'll shuffle your deck." A security guard, an oyster stepped between the suits and herself, along with a few other Oysters, they blocked off the suits from Alice and Hatter.

"Don't just stand there idiots, arrest her!" The Queen shouted.

"Take a good look at your Queen first, make sure she's really worth fighting for." Alice said, emerging from behind the group. The suits stood, glanced at each other and then turned back to the Queen.

"How dare you look at me, she's the one you should be looking at." The Queen said.

"I am not the problem, you are." Alice insisted

"Off with her head!" The Queen shouted, pointing at Alice and waiting for the suits to take her into custody.

"And it looks like everyone is waking up to that." Alice added.

"Don't listen to her; she's just an insolent girl." Alice could tell this upset the Queen, she was so used to ordering people around and now no one would listen to her.

"No one is frightened of you anymore, your just one of us now."

"This is my kingdom, and I am still Queen." She said, glaring at Alice.

"Look around, no one is listening." Alice said.

The Queen said nothing; she glanced around for help and saw Jack come running into the crowd with Duchess at his side.  
"Jack, thank god you're here, get everyone to fall in line." The Queen said, taking pride in her ability to order people around.

"Me, didn't you sentence me to death?" Jack said, standing opposite his mother.

"Oh, don't be so sensitive, I was just doing my job, come on now and rally the troops." She said, motioning for Jack to do his job.

"No mother, it's over." Jack said. The Queen was silent; Alice could read the helpless look on her face.

"The ring." Alice said, holding her hand out to the Queen.

"Are you mad? I'd sooner have you cut off my finger." She said angrily.

"That can be arranged." Alice said, knowing Hatter would be right behind her.

"Do you have a knife?" he asked one of the suits who pulled a pocket knife out and handed it to him.

"Thank you." He said stepping up to the Queen.

"Make sure it's a clean cut, we don't want any blood on the ring." Jack told him. Hatter nodded flipping the blade up. The Queen gave a disgusted sigh and handed the ring over to Alice. She sighed herself, one of relief and held the ring up for all the Oysters to see, they were finally going home.

**Okay so the next chapter should be here by Sunday at least, I am warning you now it's reallly long, not sure why it got away from me but it did, anyway, we'll talk about that later yeah? Right now you should totally go click that review button and let me know what you think! thanks!**

**~Tara~**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, I know I am bad, I promised to get this out to you on Sunday and now here it is, late monday night and I am just posting this. I won't write off a bunch of excuses, I'll just say I am super sorry and let you read, this chapters is a bit of a doozy, enjoy!**

It was a mess to say the least, getting all the Oysters together and into scarabs.

"It'll take a few hours to get the Looking Glass restarted so were transporting them to a safe house for now until they can be sent back home." Jack told Hatter and Alice as he oversaw the organization of the Oysters. Alice nodded, trying to trust in what Jack was saying.

"Would you like us to escort you there as well?" he asked. Alice thought for a second, and then glanced at Hatter.

"I'd actually like to go back to the city with Hatter, if that's okay." She said. She could tell Jack wasn't pleased with her decision.

"Of course, I'll have you two sent into the city with the rest of our workers, they're getting ready to leave now, I'll take you to them." He said, leading Alice and Hatter down the hill they were standing on and up to a scarab.

"I'll send a suit to alert you when the looking glass is running again." Jack said as he shut the door behind them.

The ride back to the city was quiet; no one spoke much, the suits still in shock of losing their leader. Alice and Hatter kept quiet as well, the two of them sitting as close as they could. Alice was simply happy to have him back with her again, she didn't know how long they were separated for before they met up again in the game room but it felt like forever, and then losing him again in the crowd of people, she didn't exactly want to think about it. She looked up at him and he smiled down at her, planting a kiss softly on her head and then giving a little wince.

"You alright?" She asked. He nodded but kept his hand on his side. Alice let it slide for now, she didn't want to get into anything here, she'd wait till they were safely on the ground before she said anything else.

The scarab dropped them off in front of the tea house. Alice stood on the small deck and watched as it took off deep into the city.

"You coming?" She head Hatter say. She turned around and saw him waiting for her. He took her hand and led her into the building

"Hatter you're sure your okay?" Alice asked.

"Positive, why wouldn't I be, I am just." He stopped short and Alice almost ran into his back.

"Just fine." He said quietly. She stepped around him and took in the damage. The trading room was a mess. Glass tables were turned over and broken; the giant chalkboard at the front of the room was on the floor in pieces. She let him go in first, knowing how hard it was for him. She followed slowly, setting chairs upright and trying to fix tables that were still in one piece.

"I am sorry Hatter." She said from the back of the room. He shook his head and turned to face her.

"Not your fault." He said, but she knew it was. He took her into his back office which was a mess but not as bad as the trade room in front.

Alice helped him right his furniture, setting up his desk and chair and putting the cushions back on the small sofa. Alice took over cleaning up his wardrobe, putting jackets back on hangers and setting his hats on top while Hatter worried himself with the papers that lay scattered across the floor.

When they were done it didn't look like anyone had ever been in the room. The grass covering the floor was a bit ripped but other than that the room looked mostly the same as it had when Alice first arrived.

Hatter collapsed onto the sofa and Alice followed suit leaning her head against his shoulder. She could tell he was breathing heavy and he was still clutching his side.

"Hatter seriously, can I just see what it is." She said. He shook his head and winced again. Alice sighed and sat him up, pushing his jacket off his shoulders.

"Come on, let me see." She said. He sat still for a second but finally obliged when she didn't take her eyes off his. He sighed and slipped the tie from around his neck, slowly undoing the buttons on his shirt until he was down to his waist.

Alice's eyes had already grown wide at the scars and burns that dotted his chest but when he pulled the shirt away with a wince and glanced at his side she was on her feet instantly.

"Do you have a medical kit in this place?" She asked. Hatter rolled his eyes at how worried she was.

"Bottom right side of the desk." He said, sitting back against the sofa again. She took the kit out of the desk and brought it over to where he sat, she knelt down in front of him and opened the kit, taking out the things she needed.

"Why didn't you just tell me Hatter?" She asked.

"Cause there not that bad." He said, wincing when she dabbed the antiseptic onto the small wounds. She tried not to pay attention but she knew he was hurting and she continually apologized for it. She decided to let the small wounds open, they weren't bleeding just black and blue but they'd be fine without bandages, the large burn on his right side however, she covered with a bandage. When she was done she glanced at his left side and saw the mark of the scar he'd shown to the king.

"What is this?" She asked, running her fingers over what little of it she could see.

"A long story." He said jokingly. She glanced up at him, and he sighed, knowing he wouldn't get away with not telling her.

"I am not the only city person who works for the hearts and doesn't live at the casino. There are about five of us and they needed a way to tell who we were. Initially they had us tattooed; we all had hearts on our arms, like you and your Oyster mark." He said, taking her arm in his hand.

"But soon it became a fad and everyone started getting them. The people who actually worked for the Hearts had theirs removed and no one could tell who was who anymore. So the suits decided to take the radical approach and gave us each a scar on our backs, when you put the scars of all five of us together it makes a heart, clever hu?" He said laughing. Alice didn't find it so funny. She pushed on his side and he willingly moved. She pulled the rest of his shirt back to look at the scar fully. It seemed bigger now, reaching from the lower middle of his back to the side of his chest. She traced it carefully with her fingers.

"Not clever, stupid." She said, letting him sit back down.

"Yeah well." He didn't know what else to say, he agreed with her but it wasn't like there was anything he could do about it now.

He let Alice watch as he buttoned his shirt back up and slipped the tie around his neck again. She sighed and leaned back into the sofa, this was the first time she'd been able to relax in what felt like days, she was going to take the chance. Hatter wrapped his arm around her slowly and pulled her close to him.

"Thank you." She said. He looked down at her, confusion written on his face.

"For what?" He asked.

"For everything. For buying me from Ratty, saving me from whatever that thing was in the forest, coming to rescue me at the casino, and then rescuing me again at the casino." He laughed; she certainly had a way with getting in trouble.

"For helping me along that ledge when we first met." She said glancing up at him.

"For shooting a man who was about to kill me." She was being honest, and she knew he wasn't one for guns; he probably would have never used the one he had if that other man hadn't tried to kill her.

"You know I'd do it all again." He said, brushing it off as if it was a daily occurrence. She rolled her eyes and rested her head back against his shoulder.

"I mean it Hatter." She said.

"So do I." He said with a laugh. He cupped her chin in his hand and brought her eyes up to his own.

"I love you Alice." He said. She sighed and closed her eyes, a smile playing on her face.

"God I missed that." She said. He laughed and kissed her slowly, he'd missed her too.

A soft knock on the door interrupted them, Alice turned to find a suit standing across the room.

"Alice, Jack sent me to alert you that the Looking Glass should be running early tomorrow morning, you're to put your affairs in order and be ready to leave as soon as possible." He said strictly.

Alice nodded slowly.

"Sure, tell Jack I'll see him then." She said quietly. The suit gave a curt nod, turned and left.

Alice turned back around and put her face in her hands. Now that the immediate threat of dying was out of the way she realized she had bigger things to deal with, like this entire thing with Hatter. Certainly he wouldn't give up his world to come to hers, and she didn't really think she was ready to up and move to Wonderland, so now what would they do?

"We should go get you cleaned up." Hatter said, breaking her from her thoughts. He stood and offered his hand.

"Come on." He said, guiding her to a panel hidden in the wall.

"Gotta have some privacy yeah?" he said, opening the panel to reveal a staircase. He went ahead of her, checking to make sure things were okay before she came up.

"They didn't find it, everything's fine, come on up." He called down to her eventually. She ascended the staircase and stopped suddenly at the top. A huge room spread out in front of her. There was a large bed in front of her, topped with chocolate brown pillows and sheets. Book cases on any open wall space. To her right was what she assumed he considered the living room, with plush couches and chairs and a table in the middle of it all. Next to the living room was a kitchen, which is where she found Hatter, poking around in cabinets, looking for food.

"You live here?" She asked. He glanced at her.

"No, there's someone else who owns the tea shop below and lives above it." He said

"That's not what I meant I just, where did you get all this stuff?" She asked.

"Trade, barter, sold old stuff of my own. Some of it was payment from the resistance." He told her setting out food in front of her.

"It's very nice." She said finally. He smiled a full fledged dimpled smile.

"Thanks." He said

"I'll start making us something to eat if you wanna clean up, the bathrooms back there." He said pointing to a small hallway behind him. She nodded and walked down the hallway into the bathroom.

She took a shower that might have been a bit longer than necessary but she hadn't bathed in days so she was happy to just see running water again. She stepped out of the shower and suddenly realized a problem, she didn't want to get back into the same clothes she'd been wearing the past, who knows how many days. She was going to ask Hatter if she could wash them but that would mean she needed something else to wear. She scrounged up some courage and called down the hall to Hatter.

"Hatter, do you have anything I could wear for the night?" She asked. Her reply was a loud crash and some mumbling from Hatter.

"Um, something of mine?" he asked, his voice in an unusually high register.

"Uh, yeah, unless you have women's clothes floating around here for some reason." She said, a smile appearing on her face. She could hear him rummaging through drawers and finally she heard footsteps making their way down the hallway. She shut the door to a small crack and he stuck his hand through, handing her a pile of clothes.

"Thank you." She said. He didn't reply just a simple.

"Sure." And he left again. She found it strange that this bothered him, but then she supposed he'd only ever really seen her in that blue dress and going from that to something of his, she could see how it would be a bit, well she didn't know the word, but she understood. She changed quickly, Hatter had given her simple clothes, A pair of dark blue lounge pants that were a bit too long for her but they were comfortable, and a simple white t-shirt that was also a bit big on her but she found she quite liked it. She left the bathroom, taking the blue dress and red tights with her and met Hatter in the living room, he was sitting on the couch, flipping through a book with a cup of tea next to him.

"I left you a cup on the counter." He said, trying not to look at her.

"Okay, thanks." She said, taking the cup over and sitting down next to Hatter. She could feel him staring at her but she tried to ignore it.

"The food should be ready soon." He said, the conversation going nowhere.

"Hatter are you okay with this or should I just change back?" She asked finally, frustrated at how strange he was acting about all this.  
"No, no it's fine I am just, I am sorry." He said shaking his head.  
"I don't know why it's just weird for me, no one's ever worn my clothes but me." He said quietly.

"Well I quite like them." She said, scooting in closer. He looked down at her finally, a smile emerging on his face.

"Yeah me too." He said, giving her a quick kiss.  
"Good, so now that, that's taken care of." She said.

"Is there any place I can wash my dress?" She asked, he thought for a while.

"I usually have to send my clothes out to be cleaned, we don't have those things you have back in your world, whatever their called." He said, dismissing it with his hand.

"A washing machine." Alice offered. He nodded, taking a sip of his tea.

"Yeah those. I suppose you could just wash um in the sink, I wouldn't know how but you could try." He said. Alice shrugged.  
"I'll just leave it; I'll only be wearing it for a while tomorrow anyway." She said, curling back up next to Hatter.

They stayed that way for a while, comfortable silence filling the space until Hatter's meal was ready.

She didn't know what it was, or even how to say it but it was good, and it was food so she wouldn't complain.

Hatter was next to shower, leaving Alice alone for a bit. She cleaned up dinner first, washing dishes and stacking them next to the sink since she didn't exactly know where they belonged. They she began to explore. She glanced at some of the books he kept, she recognized a good many of the titles which surprised her a bit, but there were also some she'd never heard of in her life. She checked down the hallway and when she still heard the water running she scooted over to his closet, opening the doors slowly and staring in awe at the amount of clothes he owned. She was a shopper herself, and a bit of a compulsive one at that, but she didn't think her closet at home was this full. She sifted through shirts and jackets, all of them similar to the ones he wore now, silk shirts with strange patters and short leather jackets. He owned a few pairs of jeans too, which she found odd, but then again who's to say they didn't sell jeans in Wonderland. She glanced up at the shelf above the clothes to find even more hats which made her laugh. She pulled down a black fedora that looked like it'd been worn to death and slipped it on her head, turning her attention back to the multitude of clothes in front of her.

"There's more in those drawers over there if you'd like to sift through those too." Came a deep voice from behind her. She spun around to find Hatter looking at her with a smile and a hand on his hip.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snoop, just, admiring." Alice said, brushing the hat off her head and playing with it in her hands.

"It's fine, and actually I think it looks quite good on you." Hatter said, taking the hat from her and placing it back on her head. She smiled up at him and tipped the hat to the side like he wore his. He laughed and turned to walk back to the large sofa, she followed close behind. They each sat down on opposite corners but Hatter glanced over at her and motioned for her to join him so she scooted closer.

"So we have a little while before we should probably get you to bed." He informed her, she nodded.

"You want something to drink?" He asked, brushing hair out of her face.

"Sure." She said, moving over so he could get up. She watched him move into the kitchen, he looked so different, just changing from the deep brown and orange outfit she'd seen him in the past few days to what he had on now. She glanced at his form in the darkened kitchen. He wore gray loose fitting pants that hung deliciously low on his hips and a simple black shirt that seemed to be the perfect size for him. His head was hat-less at the moment and she watched him run a hand through his thick dark locks, a few of them falling in his face in the process. She saw him start to move back towards her so she averted her gaze elsewhere but it didn't go completely un noticed by Hatter.

He sat down next to her again and handed her a cup of tea which she gratefully took.

"So no one else knows about this place but you?" She asked, taking a sip of the warm tea.

"Well you and I now, but no one other than us." He said.

"Why didn't you tell anyone about it?" Hatter sighed and slumped more into the sofa, wrapping an arm around Alice. She tipped the fedora off her head and sat it next to her on the sofa.

"When you're around people all day, and not just normal people but mostly tea heads, in my opinion there's nothing I want more at the end of the day than complete privacy, just someplace where I can go and see or hear no one." He said. She nodded in understanding.

"But you like your job though right?" She asked. He shrugged.

"On most days its okay, Dormie usually handles most of the selling of the product so all I really have to do is keep track of the numbers but every now and then I get some interesting visitors." He said, taking a sip from his glass.

"Like Ratty?" She asked with a laugh, he joined her

"Yeah like Ratty." He said.

"But there was this one time where he actually brought me something very special." He said, as if just remembering.

"What'd he bring you?" Alice asked, setting her empty tea cup down on the table in front of her.

"Well, it wasn't totally special at first. When he first gave it to me it was kind of a pain, to understand how to, let's say make it work, you know?" he asked, setting his cup next to hers and wrapping his free arm around her waist. She nodded and he continued.

"But I kept trying and learning and eventually I figured out the right way to use it, or at least I think it's the right way." He said with a shrug.

"Okay but what is it?" Alice said glancing around the room for something that sounded like what he was talking about. Hatter leaned down slowly and kissed her lips softly.

"You." He said simply. Alice let herself be totally taken over by the moment, she stared at him in what he assumed was awe but for her was simply love. She brought her hand up to his face and cupped his cheek gently, bringing his lips to hers. She sighed contentedly and curled up next to him. They stayed that way for a while, both totally comfortable with not talking about anything, just sitting in the moment.

"We should get some rest, yeah?" Hatter said finally, Alice yawned and nodded, she had no clue what time it was but she was tired so she was more than happy to sleep.

"You can take the bed, just let me find a blanket first and I'll be outta your hair." He said moving past her into his bedroom.

"Hatter you can sleep in the bed with me, it is your house after all." She said following him.

"No it's fine, you've been running about Wonderland for the past few days, you take the bed." He told her.

"And you've been shot, tortured and been running around Wonderland too, or have you forgotten?" She asked. He paused and looked at her for a few seconds.

"So we both take the bed then." He said finally. She smiled and nodded. Alice slipped into the bed first as Hatter went around turning lights out and closing up the door and then he joined her.

Alice sighed and snuggled down into the plush pillows.

"Comfy?" Hatter asked with a smile.

"Much better than Charlie's old bed." She told him.

"Well that's good to know." He said with a laugh. He wrapped his arm around her waist and she let him pull her in close.

She wanted to ask him, she really did, but she couldn't find the courage anywhere. Wonderland was Hatters home; she didn't want to ask him to give it all up, just for her. But really she couldn't imagine living another day without him. She didn't want to think about it now though, she knew she was leaving in the morning but maybe he'd say something to her, maybe he already had it all figured out. She tried to remember that thought as she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

**Okay, Okay very long I know. But for some reason it just felt necessary to have this be a long chapter. I wanted to add a bit more time between the casino and the looking glass, I just feel that would have been a more drawn out process than a few hours, and I think that if that did happen Alice would have been more inclined to spend the time with Hatter so this is where we went. I also think it kind of gives us a little bit of insight into what life would be like for these two, after all the crazy saving the world stuff, so I tried to add a bit of that Alice/Hatter fluff we all love so much in there! I hope everything flowed the way it should have. I have to say out of all the chapters in this story this is my 2nd favorite, you'll see my first favorite soon. Next update should be by the end of the week. **

**Sorry for the long note there!**

**~Tara~**


	11. Chapter 11

**Oh my gosh, you have no idea how sorry I am. I don't even know what happened, I just totally lost track of everything and kept you all waiting wayyy to long and I don't even have a decent chapter to show for it, all I am giving you is filler! I am so, so sorry! :( forgive me and read on...**

Alice awoke first the next morning, a bit of worry running through her. She glanced over at Hatter who still held her close in his arms; she sighed and stroked his face gently, she had to figure out something, she didn't want to leave him behind, she didn't want to leave him ever.

There wasn't a clock around so she wasn't sure of the time but she knew she needed to be ready when the suits came to escort her to the looking glass. So slowly she slipped from Hatters embrace, grabbed her dress and tights and walked to the bathroom to change and freshen up. When she emerged a few minutes later Hatter was up and in the kitchen working on breakfast.

"Morning." He called to her as she laid the clothes she borrowed back on his bed.

"Goodmorning." She said coming to join him at the small table in the kitchen, he turned and smiled at her, she really could get used to this.

"Sleep okay?" He asked her.

"Great, thank you." She said, accepting the plate of food he offered. He grabbed one for himself and sat down next to her.

"So I figure we should get ourselves ready and then we can head downstairs and wait for whoever's coming to pick you up." He said. Alice nodded in agreement.

"Great then I'll finish up here and we can get going." He said smiling.

"Hatter, there's something I wanted to talk to you about then okay?" She said, hoping to stir up some kind of interest in him.

"Okay sure." He said, she smiled but he could tell something was up.

They finished their breakfast in a comfortable silence and once Hatter had changed they headed downstairs into his office to wait.

"So you wanted to talk to me?" he asked, sitting down on the sofa and motioning for her to join. She sat down next to him and turned her eyes downwards, playing with the hem on the purple jacket she slipped over her shoulders this morning; she didn't feel right without it.  
"Alice?" He said, trying to prompt her to talk. She was nervous; she didn't exactly know how to start the conversation.

"I just wanted to know, I mean I am going back today, to my world, and, maybe you don't feel the same way I do, so maybe I shouldn't even worry about it, I don't wanna put a burden on you if it's not something you feel strongly about." She was ranting now, she had no idea what to say, she also didn't know why it was so hard for her to just come out and say it.

"Alice, just tell me what it is." Hatter said, interrupting her flow of words. She sat quiet for a few seconds, trying to think of the best way to put this, she sighed, and just took the plunge.

"I love you Hatter, and I am leaving today and I don't know what to do. I don't want to be without you, but I also don't want to ask you to give up your home for me." She said, feeling good now that it was finally out in the open. Hatter felt like he'd suddenly been shot into reality, he'd never even thought of this before and he didn't know why.

"I don't, I don't know Alice." He said honestly.

"I wish I had a better answer, but I'll think of something okay." He said smiling at her. She gave him the best smile she could manage. It didn't make her feel any better that the person who usually had all the plans, didn't know what to do.

She leaned into him and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.

"I don't wanna leave you." She whispered, almost afraid to say it herself.

"I'll think of something Alice, I promise." He said.

It wasn't much longer before they heard a knock on the back door. Alice instinctively wrapped her arms tighter around Hatter.

"Come on in." he called, kissing Alice lightly on the forehead and turning around.

"Jack set me to fetch Alice, the looking glass is almost ready to be reopened, their preparing to begin sending the Oysters home." The suit said. Alice sighed and stood.

"Sure, let's just get this over with." She said, moving to the back of the room. She turned around expecting to find Hatter beside her but he was still back on the sofa.

"Hatter come on." She said.

"No, um, you go ahead I just gotta find something first, I'll be there though okay." He said smiling at her. She gave him a confused look but nodded.

"Okay." She said, and left quietly.

Hatter really didn't know what to do now. He hadn't even thought of what would happen after the Looking Glass was restarted. He knew Alice had to go home, as much as she didn't want to ask him to give up his life here, he couldn't ask her to give hers up either. But he had feelings for her too, and as much as she didn't want to go another day without him, he didn't want to go another day without her either. He had to think of something and fast.

Alice waited quietly in the large hall that held the Looking Glass. Oysters were standing around everywhere, awaiting their turn to be sent home. She smiled to herself feeling proud of what was accomplished.

"Alice!" Someone called behind her. She turned to find Charlie walking towards her.

"Charlie, hey! I am so glad you came." She said, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Charlie had grown on Alice in the few days she was here, he was like the kooky grandfather she never had, and she realized she'd miss him too.

"You really showed um Charlie." She said proudly.

"Thanks to you." He said.  
"I shall miss you, Alice of Legend." He added with a smile.

"I'll miss you too; you're the bravest Knight I know." She said. He smiled and wrapped her in a hug again.

"Have a safe journey home." He said.

"Thank you."

She saw Jack approach them, suits at his back.

"Charlie." He said, the Knight turned to him in a bow.

"Thank you Charlie." He said, returning the bow.

"Alice." Jack said, turning to her and guiding her away from Charlie and the suits.

"I didn't know you were coming, I tried to get the suit to take me to say goodbye but I guess you've got a lot on your plate now that your king." She said.

"I owe you my life Alice, my kingdom, everything. I am so grateful for what you've helped us accomplish." He said.

"Well it wasn't just me though." She said.

"Alice, I asked you to accept this before but I don't think you knew what it meant, I'd like to ask you to wear it now, as my Queen. Will you be my Queen Alice?" Jack asked, presenting her with the ring that had gotten her into this mess to begin with.

"No Jack, I am sorry. I am not the same girl you knew, I've changed I, I want something else." She said, subconsciously rubbing the fabric of the purple jacket.

"Goodbye Jack." She said, giving him one last hug.  
"Would you at least do me the favor of re starting the Looking Glass?" He asked, guiding her over to the mirror.

"Wow, um, sure. What do I do?" She asked. Jack took the ring out of the box and gave it to her.

"Here, you place it, in there." He said, opening a small box attached to the mirror. Alice stepped forward and carefully placed the ring inside, then stepped back and listened as the machines started up and the Looking Glass was opened.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a hat, but turned away from her.

"Hatter?" She wanted it to come out as a question, she wanted to know why he was leaving, but it came out more like a statement.

He turned around quickly though and rushed back to meet her in the center of the room.

"Hey I uh, I thought I might have missed you." He said.

"Yeah well you cut it a little close." She said giving him a questioning look.

"Yeah I just, I guess I was trying not to think about it." He explained quietly. Alice was confused; this was nothing like the confident Hatter she'd spoken to this morning.

"Hatter are you okay?" she asked quietly, there were to many people around she wished there was someplace private they could talk.

"Yeah, yeah I am fine I just." He sighed.

"Listen Alice, I don't know what's gonna happen right now. I mean, I wish I could tell you I had it all figured out but I don't, I need some time, but I think the most important thing right now is for you to go back to your world." He said, taking her hands in his.

"I don't wanna go back if you're not coming with me Hatter." She replied.

"Alice, you need to go back, so your mother knows your okay, I can't keep you here anymore. I'll figure something out and we'll be together soon okay?" He said, offering a small smile. She could feel her chest get tight at the thought of losing him but he seemed adamant and she didn't want to start a fight. She nodded slowly and then glanced at the mirror behind her.

"I guess I should get going then." She said softly. He pulled her into a tight hug, holding her close.

"You'll see me soon okay, I promise." He said again, she didn't answer just nodded and let him kiss her. She started to turn away but looked back at Hatter and slipped his jacket off her shoulders, handing it back to him. He didn't say anything just nodded in understanding.

"I promise." He whispered. She nodded then turned and walked up to the mirror and with one last breath, she was gone.

**wow, so there's not really much of an excuse I can give you. I've just been up to my ears in other stuff lately and I've also been working on an original story so it's been crazy hectic around here. So i'll say I am super sorry again and I know the filler chap I just gave you didn't really make up for it but I promise the next chapter will. However I am having a little dilemma, see the next chapter is technically the end, however I've written another chapter to come after it that's just kind of, everyone settling in to their new lives, but I am not sure if I want to use it. let me know what you think, you'll probably be able to make a more informed decision after I post the next chapter which I PROMISE! I'll have posted in a few days. **

**sorry again -_-**

**~Tara~**


	12. Chapter 12

**Alright ladies and gents, so as promised, I updated alot sooner! haha. however as it stands now this is the last chapter of the story, however there is something I wanna talk about later but I'll let you read now, so enjoy my #1 favorite chapter of the story!**

Alice awoke with a killer headache and strange remnants of a dream about a man, an attractive man, someone she thought she knew but she couldn't remember his name. Her mother was with her in the room, she was on a bed, an uncomfortable bed. She glanced around, a hospital, she was in a hospital. She looked at her mother who sat on the edge of her bed, offering comforting words.

"He's gone." Alice said simply.

"Who's gone?" her mother asked. Really she didn't know, she didn't even know why she said that. The man in her dreams was gone, the one with the hat and the smile she liked so much, but someone else was gone too, who was it thought?

"Dad." She said finally coming to the answer. She felt tears start to run down her face, her mother pulled her in for a hug, offering more kind words that wouldn't fix her heart. When she calmed down she wiped a few tears from her face and glanced back up at her mother.

"How long was I there?" She asked. There, there was somewhere wasn't it, why couldn't she remember?

"An hour." Her mother said. No, no that was wrong, not an hour, longer, much longer, but where?

"An hour?" She asked, no something was wrong, really wrong.

"You were lucky, a construction worker saw you run into the building." She explained. Alice shook her head in disbelief.

"Listen honey, I'll be right back, I am gonna go check with the doctor about when we can get you home okay?" Her mom said. Alice nodded simply, still trying to put pieces together in her mind. Her mom left, shutting the door behind her. Alice sat up quickly, looking around the room for clues of anything, but it was spotless. She lay back down and closed her eyes, nothing. Where had she been? All she could see were faces. An older women, with red hair, she looked upset but Alice didn't know why. There was her dad, she wasn't sure why he came to mind but she saw him, and somehow she knew he was gone, dead, something happened. There was another man, he had cold eyes, she knew him too but she couldn't remember his name either. Then there was an older man, with a kind face and a beard. She liked him, she could tell. And then there was the man from her dream. Her heart hurt when she saw his face, it was sad this time though, not like the dream where he'd been smiling at her. She felt something for him though she knew it; it almost felt like, love.

But who were these people, why couldn't she remember their names? It frustrated her so much; she had tears running down her face again when her mother came back.

"Alice, honey are you okay?" She said coming over to her bed. Alice fought back more tears.

"Yeah, mom I am fine, it's fine." She said, smoothing things over.

"The doctors said they've been monitoring you for a while and they don't see anything wrong so you're free to go whenever you're ready." She sad, Alice nodded and moved the sheets aside.

"Let's go home." She said. Her mother offered her some clothes, a pair of jeans, a tank top and a sweater; she sighed and went to the bathroom to change.

She let the water run and splashed some on her face, her hands gripped the sides of the sink and when she glanced down she swore she saw a flash of green on her right arm but when she looked nothing was there. She shook her head, changed quickly and left with her mother.

The ride home was quiet, Alice sat, her mind spinning, trying to come up with answers for what her mind knew had happened. They walked up to her flat and Alice slowly made her way through the door, a blank look on her face. It felt wrong, everything felt wrong but she didn't know why.

Her mom rushed over to the phone, taking down messages form executives at her job that she'd missed, while Alice made her way back to her room. She glanced around slowly, nothing had changed, but something needed to. She looked at the wall where the map was pinned up, all the places she'd looked for her dad, she shook her head and walked over to it, removing the pins and placing them in a box with any other things she could find that had to do with her dad. She laid the map on her bed and came back to the box, placing a few more items in it.

"What's this about?" Her mom asked, slowly walking into the room.

"I don't need to look for dad anymore; it's time to move on." She explained, slipping the box under her bed and rolling up the map. She wanted to say more but she was interrupted by the buzzer ringing, who would seriously be at the door right now?

"Oh I forgot the construction worker who found you he wanted to stop by to see how you were. Very sweet." She added last minute. Alice rolled her eyes. She hadn't been out of the hospital for less than an hour and her mom was already trying to set her up. She continued on with rolling up the map and placing it under her bed, when she looked up she caught sight of a book on her bed, she picked it up and brushed her hand over the cover _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, _Wonderland? Flashes burst before Alice's eyes, a whole story taking place in a matter of seconds. Wonderland, she'd been to Wonderland, to rescue Jack, but not Jack Chase, Jack Heart. The Queen of Hearts, wiped out the old civilization of Wonderland, the Kinghts, Charlie, Charlie was a Knight. She was also kidnapping Oysters, Alice's people, and draining their emotions and selling them as tea.

Her thoughts froze, Hatter sold tea, that's who he was, the man from her dream, the one who was smiling at her, Hatter. Her heart started to ache again, she remembered now. Hatter had done so much for her, risked his life time and again.

"Oh my god." Alice whispered, letting a few teardrops drip onto the cover of the book.

Why wasn't he here?

"Alice, come meet David." Her mom called from the living room. Alice took a deep breath, wiped the tears from her eyes and checked her reflection in the mirror. If she was going to go meet this David she should at least look presentable. She took another deep breath and made her way down the hallway, she looked down at her hands, trying to think of something to say, something besides a 'thanks for saving my life' that was to cliché. She looked up as she rounded the corner into the living room and froze in her tracks. Her eyes widened, there was no way. But yet here he was.

"Hatter!" she cried, running as fast as she could into his arms, wrapping them tight around him. This was what was missing; he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.

"Finally." He whispered. She took in his warmth and his sweet smell; yes this was certainly what was missing.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you." She said, she could feel the tears at her eyes. He pulled back from her, looking deep into her eyes, she nodded her head once, knowing exactly what he wanted. He leaned down quick and pushed his lips against hers. She closed her eyes tight and let the tears fall, wrapping her arms tighter around him. He pulled his lips away slowly, leaving their foreheads resting together.

"I missed you." He whispered, reaching up to wipe the tears from her eyes, which only in turn brought more. He kissed her again and she tried to hold in the tears but they got the better of her and she had to breathe, she buried her head in the crook of his neck and cried.

"God, I missed you so much, I couldn't remember you, I kept seeing your face but I didn't know who you were and I missed you, I missed you so much." She said through her tears. Hatter held her close, stroked her hair gently and kissed her softly, whispering sweet words in her ear.

"Alice it's okay." He said, pulling her back for another reassuring kiss. She took deep steadying breaths, and then remembered her mother was in the room.

"Oh god, mom I am sorry I can, I can explain." She said, stepping back form Hatter.

"It's okay dear; He's already explained everything for you." Her mom said. Alice gave a curious look to Hatter.

"I sat with your mum for a while at the Hospital while you were still out." He said, pulling her back in.

"What did you tell her?" She whispered.

"The truth." Hatter said, Alice's eyes widened.

"What?" She asked.

"It's okay honey, I know all about Wonderland, he didn't have to say much to make me believe him." Carol said stepping up to the two.

"But mom I don't understand." Alice said, Carol sighed.

"I think you two should come sit down." She said, leading them over to the sofa, Carol took a chair across from them. Hatter pulled Alice in close, taking her hands in his.

"What's going on?" Alice asked. Her mom sighed and began.

"A long time ago, a few months after your father disappeared these men came to the house, you were at school and I never told you because I didn't think it was important. They said they were members of the resistance, I didn't know what that meat at the time, I do now." She said looking at Hatter, who glanced at Alice to make sure she was okay.

"They said they came to alert me that my husband had been taken by people who worked for the Queen of Hearts, turned him into a Wonderland resident and worker for the Queen." She explained.

"And you believed them?" Alice asked. Carol shook her head.

"Not at first no, but they showed me proof, valid proof. I asked them if I could tell you but they said it would be too dangerous for anyone else to know, it was bad enough that I knew. I was supposed to keep you uninformed, and I did." Carol said.

"So all those years you knew where he was and you didn't say anything?" Alice asked, her voice rising in anger.

"Alice I didn't know that there was anything to be done, I didn't know a way to reach him, I didn't even know how to get to Wonderland. Had a known that in the warehouse right behind where we lived was a Looking Glass trust me I would have been through it years ago, but I didn't." She said.

"You could have at least told me where he was, you let me look all those years, why?" She asked

"I was trying to protect you Alice. The resistance members told me that they had put me in danger by telling me. That the people who worked for the Queen could track the use of the Looking Glass and know they had gotten through to tell me, I didn't want to put you in danger too." She said. Alice was fuming they could tell.  
"Did you know about this?" She asked looking at Hatter.  
"Not until your mum told me a few hours ago." He said.  
"Alice this isn't his fault, if you want to be mad at me fine, but don't take it out on him." Carol said.

"Mad at you? I am not mad at you I am furious!" She shouted standing up.

"You knew where he was all these years and you never told anyone, why, why would you do that?" She yelled, heading for the door and slamming it behind her. The two sat in quiet for a moment.  
"Well that didn't exactly go as planned." Hatter said, Carol chuckled.

"Just give her time to cool down, she'll be fine. Besides she's not mad at you, she's mad at me." She said standing and leaving the room.

"I don't think she's mad I just think she's confused." Hatter offered.

"Well whatever she is, she won't be coming back anytime soon." She called to him.

"Where did she go?" Hatter asked.

"Up." She said pointing above her.

"The roof?" Hatter whispered. He stepped out of the door and took the stairs up to the door to the roof. He stepped out quietly, and found her right away. She sat in the middle of the roof, head in her hands.  
"I thought you were afraid of heights." He said coming to sit next to her.

"High ledges yeah, I am sitting in the middle of the roof, not like I can fall off here." She said looking up. Hatter nodded and wrapped an arm around her waist, she leaned into him instantly.

"She was just looking out for you Alice." He said. She sighed and nodded.

"What if I could have done something, if she'd have told me I could have gotten to him sooner, maybe he wouldn't have died." She said looking up into his brown eyes.

"You don't know that Alice." He said, brushing stray locks of hair from her eyes. She shook her head and leaned back against his shoulder.

"I could have tried." She whispered.

"You did everything you could." He said, holding her close. They sat in quiet for a while until the moment had passed. She looked back up at him and smiled.

"You're really here." She said, cupping his cheek in her palm, making sure he wouldn't vanish on her.

"Really here." He said kissing her again.

"How did you get through, I thought Jack said he was gonna close off the Glass after everyone left?" She asked.

"Well I know some people." He started, she laughed.

"Who know some other people, got it." She finished, he smiled at her and she kissed him again.

"Anyway, Jack gave me all these papers, supposed to make me legal in your world, I have some money and an apartment."  
"Wait your staying?" Alice interrupted. Hatter looked at her like she'd gone mad.

"Course I am staying, where'd you think I was gonna go?" he asked.

"But Hatter this isn't your home, I can't ask you to just forget everything in Wonderland and move here." She said.

"You didn't have to ask, it was my decision. Besides there's nothing left for me in Wonderland anymore, I have no family, no business, what's the point in staying, especially when the person I want to be with most is on this side of the Glass." He said kissing her again.

"You're sure?" She asked, seriousness in her voice.

"Positive, now lighten up, if I remember correctly, you promised me a date if I ever came to your world." He said helping her to her feet with a smile.

"Did I now?" She asked.

"Well I believe I suggested the Pizza, but you added, Lot's of other things. So I am going to take you up on that offer." He said as they walked back into the building.

"So Pizza first." She said. He stopped at the door to her apartment.  
"That depends on what you want, my apartments only two blocks away." He said, a sly smile creeping onto his face, she hit his arm playfully.

"Pizza first." She said

"Fine, fine. But wait right here okay." He said slipping back into the apartment. He came out a few seconds later with his hands behind his back.

"Your mum says it's fine to go." He said, she nodded.

"But before we do, I believe this." He said pulling a very familiar purple velvet coat from behind his back.

"Is yours." He finished, walking behind her to slip it over her shoulders. He gently pulled her hair out from underneath and kissed the back of her neck sweetly.

"I love you Alice." He whispered. She turned around to face him.

"I love you too Hatter." She said, kissing him on the lips. He smiled and hooked her arm in his as they made their way downstairs.

"So, David?" She asked, looking up at him curiously. His laughter echoed down the hallways as they stepped out into the city and a whole new life for both of them.

**Alright, so a little twisty there with Carol knowing about Wonderland, but I wanted to do something different with this story, insted of having Carol being ignorant to it all, I decided to let her in on it, switch it up a bit! Okay now what I wanted to discuss is that I already have another chapter going of this, however it would most likely end up in the M rated section (just because I think these two deserve a little of that) it will be a continuation of this, and not all smut and sexy stuff, just kind of a oneshot, second ending to the story. So when you review (which I hope you do! :) ) please let me know if you would be interested in reading it! **

**Thanks so much for all of your lovely reviews all through this story, it was so great to get such wonderful (pun intended) feedback from you all, So I hope you review this last chapter, and who knows maybe you'll see me agian sometime, I am sure I'll be making a few more Alice stories in the days to come! Thank you all again!**

**~Tara~**


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